LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



EARTH'S NIGHT-SIDE— APHELION. 




EARTH'S NIGHT-SIDE— PERIHELION. 



THE THREE CIRCUITS: 



A STUDY OF 



The Primary Forces. 



By TAYLOR FLICK. 



And try to scan chaotic space, 

Where everlasting forces work and weave 
To build a home for men ; a place for things 
Where order shall prevail. 



K 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 

1892. 



FEB 23 189? 

37* t X 



Copyrighted, 1892, by TAYLOE FLICK. 

ALL EIGHTS RESERVED. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
SHERMAN & CO., PRINTERS. 



TO THE LOVEES OF SCIENCE 

IN EVERY LAND 

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCEIBED. 



CONTENTS. 



Frontispiece. page 

Prelude, Lower Octave, ix 

Prelude, Middle Octave, xiii 

Prelude, Upper Octave, xv 

CHAPTER I. 

the reflex. 

The beginning of a scientific work — An old philoso- 
pher — Cowboys and desperadoes — Buffalo range — 
Grasshopper immigration — Ruined — Extermination 
of the monarchs of the plains — Departure of a 
friend — A scientific work finished, . . , .17 

CHAPTER II. 

WHAT IS MAGNETIC FORCE ? 

A scientific vacancy — Old and new theories — Magnetism 
should be the name of primary force — A dilemma — 
Despondency — Reflections in the rotunda — The 
return of the reflex — Commissioned — Admon- 
ished — Charged, 46 

(v) 



VI COXTEXTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

WORLD FORMATION. 

The solar nebula — The forces of nature have a common 
origin — Composition of the solar nebula — Polarity 
and axial direction — Attraction and repulsion — 
Three circuits — The first circuit — The second cir- 
cuit — The third circuit — Magnetic counter currents — 
Repulsion the effect of binary relationship — The 
production of light and heat — Nebular segrega- 
tion — Flow of primordial matter — A conflict in the 
solar system — The earth survives — Binary relation- 
ship of the earth and moon — Gravitation as a primary 
force over-rated, 66 

CHAPTER IV. 

NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 

The key to magnetic force — Eleven-year period — A 
great solar outburst — Cognate phenomena — Aurora 
borealis and australis — Comets' tails — Objections to 
the heat theory — Night-side phenomena explained — 
The square-shouldered appearance of Juniter — 
Matching and mismatching of magnetic points of 
intensity — The zodiacal light — An indefatigable ob- 
server — The atmosphere in general — Its molecules 
likened to the magnetic needle — Their arrangement 
with reference to the bodies which they surround — 
Atmospheric belt theory — Minor circuits of magnetic 
force, and the result of their coalition — The belts of 
Jupiter compared with those of the earth — Moun- 
tain barometers — Cometic phenomena — Misleading 
inventions, .90 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER V. 

THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 

A strange procedure — Weight is a local measure — Red 
flames and conclusions drawn from them — Sun 
spots — Variable stars — "A cold black ball" — The 
solar photosphere — "An invention of Schrceter " — 
Shrinkage in mass — The solar enigma — The answer 
of a philosopher — The answer of the reflex — Force 
and matter go hand-in-hand — Familiar examples — 
Freed force — Dr. Draper's experiment — The true 
source of power, .132 

CHAPTER VI. 

SNOW CRYSTALS. 

The whispering-place — Little messengers — Old ex- 
pressions of primary force — Light and its color 
lines — The musical octave — Molecular incubation — 
The sensate octave, 161 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BEST EVIDENCE. 

On the summit — A dream-land galaxy — A master work- 
man foiled— The New Jerusalem — Precession of the 
equinoxes — A natural architect — A military hero — 
Differentiation — A turtle at the bar — A desperate 
case — Argument of defendants — Documentary evi- 
dence — Water — Primordial matter — The effects of 
the earthly lunar binary relationship — The nuptials 
of the sun — The forces of God — The evening and 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

the morning — A ramshackle theory — The serpent 
race — Organized forces — An old conflict — Intoler- 
ance and its punishment — The prophets of Grod — 
Scientific inspiration — The case lost — Despair — Re- 
pentance — An arraignment — The best evidence — 
The river of life — The blessing of Grod, . .195 



PRELUDE. 



LOWER OCTAVE. 

"One day, while Zadig, a Babylonian philosopher, 
was walking near a little wood, he saw hastening 
that way one of the queen's chief eunuchs, followed 
by a troop of officials who appeared to be in great 
anxiety, running hither and thither like men dis- 
traught in search of some lost treasure. 

tl ' Young man/ cried the chief eunuch, ' have you 
seen the queen's dog ?' 

" Zadig answered modestly, 'A bitch, I think ; not 
a dog. ? 

" l Quite right/ replied the eunuch. 

" And Zadig continued : 'A very small spaniel, who 
has lately had puppies ; she limps with the left fore- 
leg, and has very long ears V 

'"Ah, you have seen her, then/ said the breathless 
eunuch. 

" ' No/ answered Zadig, ' I have not seen her, and 
I really was not aware that the queen possessed a 
spaniel/ 

" By an odd coincidence, at the same time the hand- 

(ix) 



X PRELUDE. 

somest horse in the king's stables broke awav from 
his groom in the Babylonian plains. The grand 
huntsman and all his staff were seeking the horse with 
as much anxiety as the eunuch and his people the 
spaniel, and the grand huntsman asked Zadig if he 
had seen the king's horse go that way ? 

A first-rate galloper, small hoofed, five feet high, 
tail three feet and a-half long ; cheek-pieces of the 
bit of twenty three carat gold; shoes silver T said 
Zadig. 

" • Which way did he go ? Where is he?' cried the 
grand huntsman. 

• I have not seen anything of the horse, and I 
never heard of him before/ replied Zadig. 

• • The gram! huntsman and the chief eunuch made 
sure that Zadig had stolen both the king's horse and 
the queen's spaniel, so they haled him before the 
High court of Desterham, which at once condemned 
him to the knout and transportation for life to Si- 
beria. But the sentence was hardly pronounced 
when the lost horse and spaniel were found. So the 
judges were under the painful necessity of reconsid- 
ering their decision, but they fined Zadig four hun- 
dred ounces of gold for saying he had seen that which 
he had not seen. 

'The first thing was to pay the fine; after 



LOWER OCTAVE. XI 

Zaclig was permitted to open his defense to the court, 
which he did, in the following terms : 

"'Stars of justice, abysses of knowledge, mirrors 
of truth, whose gravity is as that of lead, w r hose in- 
flexibility is as that of iron, who rival the diamond 
in clearness, and possess no little affinity with gold ; 
since I am permitted to address your august assembly, 
I swear by Ormuzd, that I have never seen the re- 
spectable lady-dog of the queen, nor beheld the sacro- 
sanct horse of the king of kings.' 

""'This is what happened. I was taking a walk 
toward the little wood, near which I subsequently 
had the honor to meet the venerable chief eunuch, 
and the most illustrious grand huntsman. I noticed 
the track of an animal in the sand, and it was easy 
to see that it was that- of a small dog. Long faint 
streaks upon the little elevations of sand between the 
foot-marks, convinced me that it was a she-dog, with 
pendant dugs — showing that she must have had 
puppies not many days since. Other scrapings of the 
sand which always lay close to the marks of the fore- 
paws, indicated that she had very long ears; and as 
the imprint of one foot was always fainter than those 
of the other three, I judged that the lady-dog of our 
august queen was, if I may venture to say so, a little 
lame.' 



Xll PRELUDE. 

" ' With respect to the horse of the king of kings, 
permit me to observe that wandering through the 
paths which traverse the wood, I noticed the marks 
of horse shoes. They were all equidistant. 'Ah,' 
said T, ' This is a famous galloper.' In a narrow 
alley, only seven feet wide, the dust upon the trunks 
of the trees was a little disturbed at three feet and 
a- half from the middle of the path. ' This horse,' 
said I to myself, 'had a tail three feet and a-half 
long, and lashing it from one side to the other, he has 
swept away the dus: .' Branches of the trees met 
overhead at the height of five feet, and under them I 
saw newlv fallen leaves ; so I knew that the horse 
had brushed some of the branches, and, was therefore 
five feet high. As to the bit, it must have been made 
of twenty-three carat gold, for he had rubbed it 
against a stone, which turned out to be a touchstone, 
with the properties of which I am familiar by ex- 
periment. Lastly, by the marks which his shoes 
made upon pebbles of another kind, I was led to think 
that his shoes were of fine silver.' 

" All the judges admired Zadig's profound and sub- 
tle discernment, and the fame of it reached even the 
king and the queen. From the ante-rooms to the 
presence-chamber, Zadig's name was in everybody's 
mouth; and although many of the magi were of the 



MIDDLE OCTAVE. Xlll 

opinion that he ought to be burned as a sorcerer, 
the king commanded that the four hundred ounces 
of gold which he had been fined should be restored 
to him, so the officers of the court went in state with 
the four hundred ounces; only they retained three 
hundred and ninety-eight for legal expenses and 
their servants expected fees.' 7 



PRELUDE. 



MIDDLE OCTAVE. 

"Shall the mole from his night underground 
Call the beasts of the day-glare to flee ; 
Shall the owl charge the birds : ' I am wise 
Go to ! Seek the shadows with me !' 
Shall a man bind his eyes and exclaim ; 
1 It is vain that men wea^ to see ?' 

"Let him walk in the gloom whoso will, 
Peace be with him ! But whence is his right 
To assert that the world is in darkness 
Because he has turned from the light? 
Or to seek to o'ershadow my day 
With the pall of his self-chosen night? 



XIV PRELUDE. 

" I have listened like David's great son ; 
To the voice of the beast and the bird ; 
To the voice of the trees and the grass. — 
Yea a voice from the stones I have heard ; 
And the sun and the moon and the stars 
In their courses re-echo the word ! 

" And one word speak the bird and the beast, 
And the hyssop that springs in the wall, 
And the cedar that lifts its proud head 
Upon Lebanon stately and tall 
And the rocks and the sea and the stars : — 
And know is the message of all. 

"For the answer has ever been nigh 
Unto him who would question and learn ; 
How to bring the stars near to his gaze ; — 
In what orbits the planets must turn ; — 
Why the apple must fall from the bough ; — 
What fuel the sun-fires burn. 

"Whence came life ? In the rocks is it writ, 
And no finger hath graven it there ? 
Whence came light ? Did its motions arise 
Without bidding? Will science declare 
That the law ruling all hath upsprung 
From no mind that abideth nowhere ? 

" 'Yea I know!' cried the true man of old 
And whosoe'er wills it may know 
My redeemer existeth I seek 



UPPER OCTAVE. XV 

For a sign of his presence and lo 
As he spoke to the light and it was ; 
So he speaks to my soul and I know !" 

—Solomon Solis Cohen, in the Century Magazine. 



PRELUDE. 



UPPER OCTAVE. 

The heavens declare the glory of Grod: and the firmament 
showeth his handy work. 

2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
showeth knowledge. 

3. There, is no speech nor language where their voice is not 
heard. 

4. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their 
words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a taber- 
nacle for the sun ; 

5. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, 
and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 

6. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his 
circuit unto the ends of it : and there is nothing hid from the 
heat thereof. 

7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : 
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple : 

8. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart : 



XVI PRELUDE. 

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the 
eyes : 

9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever : the 
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 

10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much 
fine gold ; sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb. 

11. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned : and in 
keeping of them there is great reward. 

12. Who can understand his errors ? cleanse thou me from 
secret faults. 

13. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; 
let them not have dominion over me : then shall I be up- 
right, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 

14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of 
my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, Lord, my strength 
and my redeemer. 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE REFLEX. 



In the year 1874 I lived in one of the new towns 
in southwestern Kansas. My residence was what 
might be called a substantially built suburban farm- 
house; I also had an office in town, for by the way I 
am a lawyer. 

The country thereabout, at the time mentioned, was 
very sparsely settled. Indeed, the town would not 
have been called a town anywhere except in the West, 
where promises and possibilities were, at least in 
those days, often accepted as if they were things in 
esse and in presenti. 

You may infer that my practice was at the mini- 
mum. Indeed, I will admit that at the time referred 
to, I had not a single client. But as I owned my 
cottage and office and enjoyed a small income de- 
rived from outside sources I never really wanted for 

2 (17) 



18 THE THEEE CIRCUITS. 

anything, and at times I flattered myself that I was 
of a contented disposition as to worldly affairs. 

I will mention here, that besides my law library, 
I was happy in the possession of a small collection 
of miscellaneous books, and with these I spent the 
greater part of my leisure. 

But, as time passed, I became somewhat discon- 
tented, and then I conceived the idea that I was by 
nature fitted for a more exalted calling. And shortly 
thereafter I foolishly concluded that I was a philoso- 
pher, or at least an amateur. 

At this period I commenced writing a treatise the 
title of which was, as nearly as I can recollect, "The 
Composition of Light and Heat as shown by the Coin- 
cidences of Natural Phenomena." 

The subject seemed to me at that time to be broad 
enough to serve as a basis for quite a work, and I 
may say that my opinion in that respect has not been 
changed since. 

I suppose I had written nearly one hundred pages 
and collected a large number of valuable quotations, 
when I begau to perceive that my subject was spread- 
ing out, as it were, in arithmetical ratio, and that it 
was also becoming more and more complex in all its 
bearings. 

Also I discovered about the same time, that con- 



THE REFLEX. 19 

stantly thinking and writing on the same subject, had 
developed within me a fierce thirst to master the 
problems that were gathering around me thick and 
fast. And so I struggled from day to day to wrest 
the secrets of nature from nature itself. As a result 
of this, I found that abstracted moods were growing 
on me, and in these I often thought I would give all 
that I possessed to master the work I had set out to do. 

One morning in June I had, without realizing it, 
passed into one of these reveries, and was trying to 
imagine how the sun had been enabled to keep up its 
supply of heat during all the ages, notwithstanding 
the enormous quantities radiated to the earth and 
planets and throughout infinite space; when my 
attention was attracted, and there stepped in at the 
open door a reverend looking old gentleman, clothed 
in a velvet coat, knee-breeches and hose. Being a 
little surprised, I only noticed his dress in a cursory 
manner, but I distinctly remember that he had a 
sword at his side. 

As soon as he saw that I recognized his entrance, 
he bowed profoundly and slightly retreating as he 
recovered, said, " I have been told that you are a 
philosopher ? " 

" I am not," I replied, " but you may consider 
that I am an amateur." 



20 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

" I am the spirit," said he, " of a gentleman and a 
philosopher of the tenth century. I am the author of 
several important works. I hope, sir, } r ou have read 
my work on Astrology, and also a treatise of mine 
setting forth in full my reasons for believing that 
persons born under certain signs of the zodiac and 
other peculiar conditions therein mentioned, might 
be able, by following my directions, to discover a 
stone that would turn everything touched by it into 
gold." 

"I have not had the honor," I replied. " But I 
am as glad to see you as if I had read your works. 
Have a seat and try one of my cigars." 

" Sir," he said, with some severity, " I consider it 
beneath a man in my station to indulge in idle prac- 
tices or pleasures whichever this may be." 

"Then, sir, what may be the object of your call?" 

"I have been permitted to revisit the earth in an- 
swer to a longing I had to know what progress had 
been made in philosophy since I left it. I have seen 
your railroads, steamships, telegraph and telephone 
lines, and I think they are useful inventions. But I 
would take a deeper interest in them if they were in 
my line." 

" Beg pardon," I said, " will you inform me what 
is your line ? " 



THE REFLEX. 21 

" Well, sir, I take a deep interest in all scientific 
subjects." 

" What is it you would deem a scientific subject ? " 

"I consider Mathematics an almost exact science; 
Astronomy, Astrology and Physics are sciences. 
There may be others." 

" Then," I said, " I have the honor to inform you 
that our people hold that these inventions are in the 
line of physics." 

He seemed perplexed but made no reply. Ad- 
dressing him, I asked, " Is there any particular sub- 
ject you would prefer to talk about?" 

" I would like you to explain this new idea that 
the earth is a globe, and that it is upheld by nothing. 
And if it be so, which I do not believe, then why I 
and other eminent philosophers did not discover the 
fact." 

" I will state the evidence," I answered, " which I 
can promise you amounts to a demonstration, and 
then you may be able to find the reason yourself. 
The most convincing proof lies in the fact that mari- 
ners have sailed all around it." 

" Well, sir, if such grave matters can be settled in 
the minds of your people by the tales of mariners, I 
might as well go my way, for I never pay any atten- 
tion to sailors' yarns." 



22 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

" But my dear sir, it is not their tales, but the ac- 
tual courses and distances as shown by the compass 
and the log." 

" Oh, your compass may be all right and so may 
the log, whatever that may be, but were they not in 
the hands of men who have always been noted for 
telling stories that nobody could believe ?" 

"Then, as further proof, I will inform you that 
our architects and mechanics find in erecting tall 
buildings, that with the most careful plumbing, the 
outside walls recede from each other, and allowance 
is usually made to correct the angular spread caused 
by the earth's sphericity." 

" Then I know,'' he replied, " that your architects 
have been imposed upon. And to such a mechanic 
I would say, if you handle your plumb-line so care- 
lessly that your walls become farther separated, you 
had better be serving as an apprentice or at work as 
a journeyman. Sir," he added, " I came to you to 
hear the explanation of a philosopher. I know to a 
certainty that if this earth were a spherical body, all 
the water would be emptied out of it. And that is 
reason enough for me if there were no others." 

" Then, if you know this," I said, " you are not 
in condition to receive any light on the subject, and 
the remainder of your question is answered already." 



THE REFLEX. 23 

He bowed very stiffly and bidding me " Fare- 
well/' left the office, closing the door after him. 

I thought how hard it seems to be for one to gain 
knowledge contrary to that which he has learned 
from the books. And especially when he is vain, 
and flatters himself that he knows all about it. That 
old philosopher will believe from now to the end of 
time that the earth is flat and that the limits of the 
sea surrounding it can never be known. And he 
may even go further and think that no inquiry about 
it ought to be made. 

Just as my thoughts turned again to the solar 
problem, the door opened, and there was another 
caller. He was a fine looking young man, apparently 
of quiet deportment; he walked straight to where I 
sat and lifting his hat in urbane style, said : 

"Are you a philosopher?" 

" I am not a philosopher," I replied, " but an ama- 
teur." 

11 1 am a reflex," he said. 

"What?" 

" I am the reflex." 

"Well, sir!" I said, "Will you have the kind- 
ness to inform me, what a reflex is, and how you 
came to be one ? " 

" I am the reflex," he replied, " of a lover of science 



24 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

who will live on the earth about the middle of the 
twentieth century ; I have been permitted to come to 
you and explain as far as I can the scientific problems 
that have been troubling your mind." 

" My friend," I said, " No one can ever know how 
glad I am to see you ; have a seat and smoke." 
Handing him the best cigar I had. 

He declined the offer, and in a reflective manner 
said : 

" What is it you would like to know ? " 

" I can hardly tell you," I replied. " I find that I 
have by hard work pushed myself into a maze of dif- 
ficulties; that the work I am writing is leading me 
into all the sciences, that infinite phenomena lead to 
infinite experiment and these to infinite conclusions. 
And so I have lost my way and my work is stopped." 

" Cheer up ! " he said smilingly, " I think I know 
what ,is the trouble with your work. In the first 
place, you have set yourself the task of conceiving as 
fully as if it were a single proposition, all the knowl- 
edge the human race has acquired in two, perhaps 
in three sciences, and of placing it before your readers 
so that they will comprehend it at a glance. You 
then intend to point out what part of it is in accord 
with observed phenomena and what is not. After 
which you intend to offer certain hypotheses which 



THE REFLEX. 25 

you conceive to be true, and show that they also will 
account for the same phenomena as in the first in- 
stance, and that in addition thereto they will throw 
new light on various phenomena which have hitherto 
remained wholly unexplained." 

" That is about it," I said. 

" Then," he replied, " I feel bound to tell you and 
I hope I do so kindly. I really do not think you 
are able to undertake such a work." 

" Then I had better abandon the whole subject at 
once ; indeed, I was about to do so before you came 
in." 

" No, — in the second place you have fallen into 
the same error that hampered the mind of the old 
philosopher who just left you. You have too much 
confidence in the learning contained in scientific works 
and altogether too much in speculations that have by 
accident crept into school books." Then pausing a 
moment, he added : " It behooves you, as well as him, 
to look more to nature and up to Him, who is the 
creator of all. In short, that you divest yourself of 
every prejudice, and with the knowledge you have 
derived from the books, present yourself, as it were, a 
sheet of white paper, to receive whatsoever your God 
may desire to write thereon." 

After which he called my attention to the fact that 



26 THE THREE CIRCUIT?. 

all the heavenly bodies are moving in elliptical orbits. 
The inference he drew from it was that planetary 
motion being in curvature, left no reason for us to 
think that primary force ever acted in right line?. 

He advanced the idea that the bodv of the sun i- 
as cool as that of the earth ; that there might be zones 
on its surface favored with a fine climate, and per- 
haps, great rivers and mountains there. He sug- 
gested the possibility that its polar regions are as cold 
as ours. Moreover, he claimed that its light was not 
the effect of incandescence, or its heat the result of 
either combustion or friction. 

At the end of a couple of hours, which had been 
very interesting ones to me, he bade me " Good-bye," 
saying he would call again in the morning. 

What a degree of excellence, I thought, that young 
man has attained ; how easy his manner ; with what 
grace he tempers that which would otherwise be of- 
fensive ; I will cultivate his acquaintance ; his friend- 
ship may be worth having. 

The next day we strolled out on the plains which 
he had never before seen. 

" I am surprised," said he, " that there is so little 
grass, and what is stranger still the ground is almost 
covered with bones. As far as the eye can reach I see 
everywhere heads and limbs and whole skeletons." 



TEE REFLEX. 27 

" The grass/' I replied, " is called buffalo grass after 
the name of the wild cattle that roam over the plains. 
It is always short, even in the middle of summer, but 
it is very nutritious, and is said to be about as good 
grazing in winter as in summer. The bones are those 
of the buffalo; they lie just as you see them for 
hundreds of miles; in fact, throughout the whole 
western plateau, which is yet tolerably well filled 
with the living animals; but hunters in great num- 
bers are after them all the time. Some hunt them 
merely for sport, others make a business of it ; selling 
their hides in the towns." 

" It appears to me," he said, " that the sky is a 
deeper blue than I have seen elsewhere, and that it 
maintains its full color to the ground line; and I 
either imagine it," he added, " or it is really the 
bluest and loveliest I have ever seen.'' 

It pleased me to hear the country praised and so I 
remarked : 

"You will find, if you conclude to settle here, that 
the air is pure and invigorating. Owing to the alti- 
tude of the country there is no malaria in the atmos- 
phere, but a large quantity of ozone which is said to 
be beneficial to invalids. Ladies of delicate consti- 
tutions often sleep here with their chamber windows 
open." 



28 THE THREE CIRCUIT*. 

" I have heard that the country is infested with 
villains who make life and property insecure." 

" The fact," I replied, " may be generally admitted 
and yet it needs to be explained. You must know 
that native or domestic cattle are abundant in this 
country, and that they run at large and subsist by 
grazing both in summer and in winter. This manner 
of life has made them nearly as wild as the buffalo. 
Indeed, at times the former are more dangerous than 
the latter. The young men who take charge of the 
cattle are called cow-boys; the cow-boy is not a vil- 
lain in any sense, but simply a bold, self-reliant blus- 
terer ; however, they go armed with large revolvers 
which they sometimes need for defence. 

"There is another class of men who arm themselves 
in the same style ; their disposition is more quiet 
than that of the cow-boy ; they are inclined to say 
little and do a great deal of harm ; they hang around 
railroad towns, where Texas cattle arrive in droves 
and are shipped to market. They are desperadoes 
and true villains ; the liquor saloon is their home and 
gambling their profession. They prey on the cow- 
boys and foolish young men and old ones, too, from 
all parts of the country ; they are all desperate men, 
some of them horse thieves and railroad train robbers. 
They delight in calling themselves such names as 



THE REFLEX. 29 

Wild Bill, Cherokee Dan, Buckskin Joe, etc. In 
saloon broils they are killing each other all the 
time, and take pride in boasting that they 'intend to 
be buried with their boots on ; ' when two or three 
of them are killed in a night many persons consider 
it a fortunate circumstance ; they are unpleasant men 
to deal with, but generally not dangerous to good citi- 
zens." 

" What' a dreadful phase of human life ! " he said. 

" They have developed or degenerated, whichever 
you please to call it, from the inexperienced young 
man through the cow-boy state into murderers." 

" It is a pity," he replied, " that Darwin had not 
known this and cited them as an example of retro- 
gression." 

After I had explained the condition of the country 
as it then was, we spent the remainder of the day 
talking of the general affairs then current, and at the 
close of it we were friends and he became our guest. 

He was an enthusiastic amateur and, I think, a good 
scholar. He never tired of observing the clouds or 
of noting the direction of the wind, and it always 
pleased him to talk about such phenomena as the 
country afforded. And so we became fast friends 
and scoured the country together on foot and on 
horse-back ; I loved to call him Flex, and I took no 



30 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

pleasure in rambling unless he was with me. We 
enjoyed our home, too, notwithstanding the trouble 
that came afterwards. 

Many a summer evening we sat on the veranda 
and watched the sun clip the horizon without the 
slightest diminution of its mid-day splendor. At 
such times the air was so exceedingly dry that a wet 
handkerchief would dry in about the time it takes to 
write the fact; and buffalo meat hung in the sun 
would soon cure into excellent dried beef. 

One afternoon we sat there with our feet on the 
railing enjoying ourselves to the utmost. Flex was 
in fine vein ; he kept talking in a low voice about 
the tides and what caused them ; and from that he 
began to explain aerial tides and "highs" and 
"lows" and "frost line tables," and thermometers 
that never reach the highest or lowest degree; and 
" latitudinal belts," whatever they may be. How- 
ever, I do know that he made it all very satisfactory 
to me, and I said, " I believe you are very nearly 
right about the matter." 

Looking up we discovered a cloud in the west; I 
do not believe it rose or came from anywhere ; I think 
it formed just where it was ; but that would not have 
been remarkable had it not acted so strangely. It 
was not an angry-looking cloud, but it shrunk up 



THE REFLEX. 31 

and spread out again, and while we looked at it other 
clouds formed and drifted rapidly toward it. This 
process continued and when night came on it filled 
the whole northwestern part of the heavens ; it then 
had a beautiful greenish appearance, and we could 
hear the muttering thunder and see the zigzag light- 
ning. All this time there was a very slight breeze 
toward the storm which was apparently moving 
toward us. Just after dark the wind lulled and for 
a few minutes there was a dead calm ; such a calm 
as only a poet can describe. 

"Deep watery clouds o'erspread the sky, 
Dead stillness reigns in air ; 
There is not even a breeze on high 
The gossamer to bear. 

"The woods are hushed, the waters rest, 
The lake is dark and still ; 
Reflecting on its shadowy breast 
Each form of rock and hill. ' ' 

In this profound silence we heard a blow strike the 
roof of the house as if it were delivered with an axe, 
then suddenly there came a burst of wind from the 
northwest; roaring it came and seemingly striking 
all the four sides of the house at once, it shook it 
from top to bottom. Instantly the rain fell in tor- 



32 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

rente and masses of hailstones came pounding along 
breaking glass and sash and adding to an uproar that 
was already appalling. Meanwhile the lightning had 
gathered itself into an electrical display that filled the 
whole firmament; the thunder rolled continuously, 
while the howling hurricane, loaded with ice, swept 
through the house, and strained, and tugged, and 
wrestled with it as if determined to destroy it, and 
still the brave house stood. The veranda went with 
the first blast, the window blinds were torn to frag- 
ments and carried away ; the lighter furniture fol- 
lowed ; the floors were half shoe top deep in water 
and ice and broken glass, and while rivers of water 
still came pouring down the fearful storm passed on. 
And we, utterly dismayed at the wild work of the 
elements, thanked God that W3 were still alive and 
that the almost ruined structure still stood over us. 

The next morning we found that everything except 
ourselves had been blown from the premises ; the 
greater part of our household property lie strewed in 
the wake of the storm. The grain that stood ripen- 
ing the day before was pounded to the earth, ground 
to powder and blown away. The grass and weeds 
had left by the same route ; by noon the hot sun 
made the outlook as brown as a stubble field in 
winter. 



THE REFLEX. 33 

After this we had fine weather for several weeks, 
1 and Flex and I determined to take a trip and see 
what was transpiring on the plains, where buffalo 
hunters were holding high carnival, if such it might 
be called, where one party had all profit and the other 
was invariably the victim. 

We soon procured a covered wagon, team of horses, 
provisions, cooking outfit, etc., and one bright 
morning we bid good-bye to our friends and " pulled 
out for the front." 

I think I never will enjoy anything like I did 
that trip. The weather was delightful. Crossing the 
Arkansas river with some difficulty, we took our 
course southwest by west, intending to strike the range 
in about sixty miles in that direction. 

The country we passed over was very high-rolling 
prairie, without any streams of water. We saw no 
buffalo that day, but wolves were numerous, and an- 
telopes scampered from every rise of ground. 

As the hours passed on, we could notice that we 
were getting nearer to the range by the buffalo paths 
that began to cross each other at sharp angles in the 
direction of lower land that lay far ahead. Now and 
then a lighter path showed where the calves had 
trotted alongside their mothers. The bones of the 
slain literally covered the ground. 

3 



34 



Toward evening we arrived at a small stream, and 
went into camp pretty well tired oat, not having seen 
a road that day, except a dim one that we crossed 
early in the morning. 

There was no wood at the place we camped, bnt 
we gathered a few u chips/' which, by the way, make 
ery good fire, made some good coffee, ate our sup- 
pers with a relish, and slept as soundly in the wagon 
as if we had been on feather-beds. 

The next morning we broke camp early, resolved 
to reach the range that night if possible. 

The country we passed over was not different from 
that we had seen the day before. By noon it became 
very monotonous, and conversation ceased in a great 
measure for the want of new subjects. 

But Flex was not to be discouraged. He kept my 
spirits up talking about Polar axes, magnetic poles, 
circuits of pure force, infinite areas in space, and solar 
systems far away from ours. Sometimes I thought 
b i b mind was not on the earth, but soaring on angel's 
wings throughout the universe. 

Antelope became very numerous; large herds of 
them in sight all the time; and wolves snarled and 
growled at us as we passed by. 

1 iward evening we began to see " bunches of buf- 
falo/' sometimes fifty or more, and one herd that we 



THE REFLEX. 35 

estimated at three hundred. And later we camped 
on a small stream that we thought might be the head 
of the Beaver or Pala Dora creek. 

We rested very comfortably that night, although 
the wolves howled dreadfully. 

The next morning we were awakened by the crack 
of rifles, and we soon learned that we were among 
the hunters on the eastern edge of the great southern 
herd. 

The hunters are usually divided into companies of 
four or eight men, who are partners, or, as they say, 
" in cahoots." 

Their work is a bloody one. They are armed with 
breech-loading rifles of very heavy calibre. They 
organize themselves with special reference to the 
habits of the animals. They have learned that a 
hunter can, by using care and patience, crawl into the 
centre of a great herd, say a thousand or more. 
Having secured this situation, he has the advantage 
of short rifle-range, and can kill them at will. Just 
as long as one drops dead at every shot, there will be 
little or no disturbance. Sometimes a few of the 
nearest will throw up their heads, and perhaps one or 
two of them will snort, but in a few minutes they 
will resume feeding. But when one is wounded, it 
will run bellowing away, followed by the whole herd, 



36 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

and they may not stop for several miles. Now, when 
the skinning begins, it is a saving of time and labor 
to have the dead lying near together. For this reason 
the best marksman is selected to do the shooting. 

We were not hunters, not even sportsmen ; Captain 
Custard, the leader of one of the companies, informed 
us as to their methods. He said that he had often 
" downed " from twenty-five to thirty before he had 
the misfortune to wound one. 

The next year the same informant stated that he 
believed that four-fifths of the whole race were killed 
in the year 1874. 

We visited several of the camps and found the 
hunters generally brave, good-hearted, hospitable 
frontiersmen. After which we went to the salt-fields 
in the Indian territory and from thence home. 

Shortly after this trip came the grasshopper; how 
he learned that the cup of our joy was again filling 
up no one can tell ; it is not likely that he read any 
of the glowing circulars that had been sent abroad, 
nor that any of his people had preceded him and 
written about the salaries of county officers ; he prob- 
ably took counsel of his stomach, and thereupon 
called an assembly by nations and by families, and 
doubtless all were chosen. And then, with an una- 
nimity never before equalled, every grasshopper, with- 



THE REFLEX. 37 

out respect to previous condition, broke up house- 
keeping and straightway emigrated to Kansas. 

It was a bright morning late in July ; the van- 
guard arrived in clouds about ten o'clock ; by noon, 
they filled the air as if all the sands of the seashore 
had been instantly turned into grasshoppers; they 
flew so thickly that the sky had a dark-brown appear- 
ance. The earth was also covered with them through- 
out scores of counties. All the windows and doors 
had to be closed to exclude them, and there was a 
continual clatter as they drifted against the sides of 
the building. Domestic fowls were overwhelmed 
with delight ; they stood at such places with open 
mouths upturned to receive them ; the stomach of a 
chicken in grasshopper time can be compared to noth- 
ing except a bottomless reservoir. 

The appetite of the hoppers was boundless ; they 
hesitated not but pounced upon all that the hail had 
here and there left, and in less than two days they 
harvested and stored in their greedy stomachs all the 
remainder of the crop of 1874. After which they 
prowled around a day or two as if to make sure that 
the job was well done and then they left as suddenly 
as they came. 

That was a long to be remembered year in the 
annals of western Kansas ; evidently the country was 



38 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

ruined. Oh I you may well believe, it is hard times 
when farmers stare at each other and ask : " Where 
is bread ? " But it was long ago, and it seems to me 
now like a horrid nightmare of the pa- 1 

As the fall passed on large-hearted men and women 
learned of our wants, and after all the bread came, 
and the winter went bv without more suffering than 
we were able to bear. 

During the year 1875, our home life differed but 
little from what it had been. My law library in- 
creased and also my practice in the courts, but not 
enough to prevent Flex and I from continuing our 
investigations. "We lost no opportunity to visit the 
country, but at this time the settlement had extended 
so much that we generally rode horsebc .: 

I think every professional man ought to keef 
horse or two, and then with sach a friend as I had 
to accompany him, he should be supremely happy ; 
at least I was. 

e made long trips, tethered oar h rses and 
" -ked to the nearer hills. 

Once we sat on two huge skeleton her - : out 

on the plains ; it was a fine Indian summer afternoon, 

earlv in November 1871 - were on a high divide 

overlooking the vallev of the Walnut ; the bluffs and 

- :hat marked its course could be seen for 



THE REFLEX. 39 

miles. In the opposite direction the Buckner wended 
its way in sight and not more than four or five miles 
away. A light blue smoke or haze lay between, but 
not enough to prevent us from seeing the thin fringe 
of cotton- wood trees and brush that here and there 
lined its banks ; now and then, with a glass we could 
see a dark animal or two saunter down its bank ap- 
parently to drink ; my enjoyment of the scenery was 
complete; after while, Flex said, "Why don't you 
write a cosmology ? " 

" Do you mean me ? " 

" Yes, I think you could do it," he replied. I was 
surprised that he should make such a remark, since 
he knew my want of knowledge of the subject, and 
that my practice was increasing. However, after re- 
flecting a moment I said : 

" Don't you think it wrong to dabble in such 
matters?" 

"No indeed," he replied, "I think much good 
would follow it, because the ideas of thoughtful men 
lead to experiment and there are many learned men 
who devote their lives to that work. It has been 
said that the announcement of Newton's theory, and 
the revival of discussion that followed it doubled the 
world's knowledge in a few years. In the second 
place, a monstrous theory has been accepted, or, at 



40 THE THREE CTECU1TS. 

least, if it has not been accepted it has been treated 
as if it were true, and the result is, that astronomy is 
having grafted on it a literature of white-hot suns 
and red-hot planets. As if God were unable to light 
and warm his worlds without making the finest of 
them useless camp-fires. This fiery hypothesis is of 
an age when men began to learn that a great force 
could be obtained from the expansion and contraction 
of matter when subjected to different temperatures. 
Its hold on the public mind has been strengthened 
by the practical illustration of steam as a working 
power ; in this way the conclusion has become estab- 
lished, that God created the worlds by the expansive 
power of heat, and that He lights and warms the 
earth by solar heat resulting from combustion or frie- 
tional collision. It hardly needs to be said that the 
worlds so employed are good for nothing else. More- 
over it is a clumsy plan, and not in accord with the 
wisdom of him who has all power at his command. 
It has taught us to think that a third-rate manifesta- 
tion is the primary force in nature, and so we have 
been led into difficulties from which there is no 
escape without making a complete radical change of 
base." 

" I think you are right about this," I said. 

Continuing, he said : " Such a work ought to 



THE REFLEX. 41 

breathe a spirit of love to God and love to men and 
kindness to every creature." 

He finished by saying: " I believe He intends that 
we should pry into His works, and so gain more 
knowledge of His omnipotence." 

" Well, really," I replied; " You have lost sight 
of your own inconsistency. You first say that I 
ought to write it, and then you raise the standard on 
high, forgetting that I am a western lawyer. Flex, 
I suppose I am honest as the world goes ; that is to 
say, I would not steal — a pin." 

He interrupted me, laughing, " What if it were 
the estate of a deceased millionaire ? " 

" Oh, that alters the case. If he had been a client 
of mine, I would have advised him to spend nine- 
tenths of it in relieving distress. You and I have 
seen some. Now, if some benevolent lawyer has the 
cash, I think that millionaire's ghost is served about 
right." 

The afternoon was one of the finest ; there was not 
a breath of wind, and the air was delicious. Now 
and then we could hear the crack of a rifle, and then 
two or three dark-colored beasts would hurry across 
some neighboring hill, reminding us that the mon- 
archs of the plains were still going down. Then I 
began to think of the wide-spread extermination of 



42 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

these gentle creatures ; that not one in a thousand of 
them ever turned on his tormentors. I thought of 
the short, sweet grass, as good in winter as in sum- 
mer, and that cold rains seldom or never occurred at 
any season of the year. On the whole, it seemed to 
me that the country was well adapted to their wants 
in every respect. Then I said : " Flex, I think this 
whole business is an outrage." 

" We were speaking of God's works," he replied. 

" But I am speaking of the ruthless, wanton de- 
struction of an entire race of creatures. I was think- 
ing how they had lived here all their lives, and drank 
at every stream of water for hundreds of years. I 
tell you I believe the land is theirs; that they own 
it in fee simple. Their great brown mouths have 
kissed every acre of it more than a' thousand times. 
I believe the trouble and misery we have endured is 
a just punishment for such a wide-spread, cruel, 
wicked act." Pausing for breath, I added : " The 
government ought to be ashamed of itself." 

"Our government," he quietly remarked, "can 
express no measure of shame or indignation except 
such as may be in the minds of the individuals that 
compose it." And then, with a smile, added : "You 
have expressed yours in no stinted measure." 

" This country," he continued, "is to be the home 



THE REFLEX. 43 

of a happy people. Surely you do not contemplate 
a beast as you would a man." 

"But why such reckless haste?" I replied, cooling 
down a little. 

" They are coming. Population everywhere seems 
to be overcrowded. This land is being made ready 
for them, and apparently none too soon. These crea- 
tures have lived here so long, and have kept the grass 
so closely grazed, that the hot sun and dry winds 
have made a desert of it. Perhaps the time was very 
near when they could not have obtained food in the 
winter, and then they would have perished with cold 
and hunger. It will require a long time to redeem 
the land and make it fit for cultivation. Maybe it 
is all right. Who can tell ? " Then, after reflecting 
a moment, he asked : " When do you intend to re- 
sume your work? " 

"That is just what I want to talk about," I re- 
plied. "I would like to begin in the morning, and, 
if agreeable to you, I will write while you dictate. 
With both of us watching the points, I think very 
little revision will be needed, and that we will be 
able to push the work very rapidly ; and, Flex, I 
really think that some publisher will give us a good 
sum for the copyright." 

He made no reply, but looking up said : "The sky 



44 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

is overcast with clouds; the night is near ; we must 
make haste and ride fast or we will not be able to 
keep the course." 

Then we mounted and rode rapidly home. 

At breakfast the next morning, I noticed that the 
place usually occupied by my friend was vacant. 
Recollecting at the same time that my first important 
case stood for trial that day, I said : 

" Tell Flex to be at the court room as soon as pos- 
sible ; I want him to hear my opening to the jury." 

I won the case, but Flex came not that day nor 
the next ; and weeks and months went by and still 
he came not. 

Oh, how long the days seem when one hopes for 
something that never comes; the light of the office 
was gone ; the gladsome laugh and cheery voice were 
gone, never to return again to that office. But I 
plodded on, working longer days and harder than 
ever. I never left the village ; the country had lost 
its charms for me. 

One rainy afternoon, something like a year after, 
while rummaging through neglected pigeon holes and 
drawers that contained nothing but old briefs and 
stale papers, I came across my old manuscript; it had 
rather a shabby appearance and time had browned it, 
but I o^ave it an affectionate look, thinking here is 



THE REFLEX. 45 

the key to the whole trouble, and I said to it, " To- 
morrow I will finish you out of hand." 

The greater part of the next day I was busy in 
court. However, about four o'clock in the evening 
I pulled down the manuscript, and, glancing at the 
title-page, I said to myself in a congratulatory way: 
" You are right, my boy; that sounds as if the author 
had thoroughly studied his subject and knew all 
about it." 

Dipping into the first chapter I began to grow ner- 
vous, and turning it quickly I looked again at the 
title-page. 

" What stuff' is this ! " I exclaimed ; " Here is no 
originality, neither pith or point; this is nothing but 
the thoughts of others remodelled, and a poor job at 
that." At the same time thrusting it into the stove, 
I savagely added, " now you are finished out of 
hand." 

Then I resolved to write what I had learned of 
the reflex. 



46 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



CHAPTER II. 

WHAT IS MAGNETIC FORCE? 

The theory of the attraction of gravity has stood 
the test of every astronomical fact and mathematical 
calculation that has ever been applied to it. Never- 
theless, it was demonstrated by Newton and others, 
that gravitation would only account for planetary 
motion already under way, and that the solar system 
would ultimately run down unless the effects of at- 
traction were counteracted by some other positive 
force. 

Indeed, astronomers and physicists in Newton's 
time, knew as well as we know, that no cosmology 
can be constructed with gravity alone as the motive 
power. And so one of them invented the phrase, 
" original impulse," and with it started the machinery. 
Then, still finding a scientific vacancy, he added cen- 
trifugal force to his invention and endeavored to show 
that nature had so constructed a perpetual motion. 

This theory has been accepted regardless of the fact 
that original impulse is not a scientific thing in any 



WHA T IS M A GNETIC FOR CEf 47 

sense, and that centrifugal force is no force at all but 
inertia. 

How often have we been shown that a planetary 
body propelled by original impulse in a right line 
would soon be deflected by gravitation and forced to 
move in a circular or an elliptical orbit. 

No one ever doubted it the first time it was ex- 
plained to him, and no one has ever doubted it since. 
But why were the planets started moving in right 
lines ? Could not original impulse as easily propelled 
them somewhat in the direction they were intended 
to pursue? 

Supposing the theory to be true ; what would 
have been the condition of the universe when all 
the heavenly bodies began to change their courses and 
take up new and entirely different ones ? „ 

Of course, it was an illustration, but it was in- 
tended to illustrate gravity as an universal motive 
power. And, unfortunately for science, or at least 
for the theory, it proved too much, for it will be con- 
ceded that an attractive force sufficient to deflect the 
course of a planet moving in a right line, would settle 
the career of that planet shortly thereafter. 

It has been but a few years since we began to con- 
sider light, heat, magnetism, galvanism, electricity, 
etc., as natural forces. In the school books of the 



48 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

early part of this century, they were denominated the 
" imponderable substances." And it was explained 
that heat, which it was thought could be better under- 
stood by calling it caloric, expanded the metals, rari- 
fied the gases and decomposed all organic substances. 

At the beginning of the last century, light was 
thought to be composed of corpuscles ; and the sun 
was supposed to contain a never-failing supply of 
them. By what means they were shot across the 
chasm from the sun to us, was a great puzzle, with 
which Newton, Bentley, and a host of German, 
French and English philosophers wrestled during 
the greater part of their lives. 

Now the corpuscles are gone ; but the puzzle re- 
mains with us, and is not likely to be solved until we 
fully recognize that resisted force is heat; and that 
when force is impeded by the atmosphere it is light. 

The first conclusion is not new by any means ; 
neither may the second be, but one is led to think 
that both are, when noticing how little attention is 
paid to them by philosophers who speculate on the 
subject of solar light and heat. 

It was the undulatory theory of light that settled 
the career of the little corpuscles. 

To undulate, means to move backward and for- 
ward, to vibrate. What is it, then, that is vibrating 



WH A T IS MA GNETIG FOR GEf 49 

and is light? Is it the particles of the air or is it 
the particles of an universal ether? 

Shall we say it is the ether, and enter the domain 
of wild conjecture where no one can follow? Shall 
we now discuss the properties of material about which 
nobody knows anything and so avoid all criticism ? 
Or shall we say it is the air and take the conse- 
quences of an erroneous conclusion? 

After the brilliant corpuscles had about faded from 
the memory of men, came the vibratory theory of 
heat. This theory is founded on the assumption that 
heat or rather temperature is a sensation derived from 
a movement of the ultimate particles or atoms of 
matter. The idea is, that when these atoms are in 
moderate temperature, their movement is so slight 
that we are unable to recognize it except by the sense 
of feeling; that as the temperature increases the 
movement becomes greater, and exceedingly more 
rapid, so that we recognize it in the incandescence of 
the body and the light produced by the force operat- 
ing in its particles; that still greater temperature 
causes the dissolution of organic substances by the 
forceful separation of their parts. No reasonable ob- 
jection has ever been made to this theory. 

Sir Humphry Davy says, " Heat, then, or that 
power which prevents the actual contact of bodies, 

4 



50 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

and which is the cause of our peculiar sensations of 
heat and cold, may be defined a peculiar motion, 
probably a vibration of the corpuscles of bodies tend- 
ing to separate them." 

In his chemical philosophy published in 1812, he 
says : 

" The immediate cause of the phenomenon is mo- 
tion." 

Now, as motion can only be conceived as the effect 
of force previously or presently applied, it follows 
that light and darkness, high and low temperature 
require some scientific primary force to produce them. 
What is this force ? 

If light and high temperature are the effects of 
rapid motion, and darkness and cold of slower mo- 
tion, is it not probable that the condition of absolute 
darkness and entire absence of heat (temperature) 
does not exist anywhere in the universe? But that 
where there is the least matter, that is to say, where 
matter only exists in its most tenuous conditions ; 
there will be also the nearest approximation to abso- 
lute darkness and cold. 

This being admitted, leads to the almost certain 
conclusion that as we rise from the earth into space 
it is not only the temperature that is decreasing, but 
also the light is diminishing in the same ratio ; that 



WHA T IS MA GNETIC FORCE? 51 

while no place can be found or imagined where either 
light or heat are absolutely absent, yet a place would 
soon be reached when both would be comparatively 
absent; and we may also conclude that when such 
place is reached it will be found comparatively a 
vacuum. 

During the time these theories of force and its phe- 
nomena were being advanced and brought to our 
knowledge, investigation and experiment were being 
pushed all along the line. And electricity and a 
class of phenomena apparently more nearly allied to 
it began to occupy the public mind. And now we 
have the electric light, and heat, and power derived 
from the currents of primary force. 

Generally it may be said that the manifestations of 
a thing are not the thing itself. Yet, as to pri- 
mary force, we can at present form no conception of 
it except such as we derive from its phenomena; and 
as these have all been given separate names, it be- 
comes necessary that primary force itself should have 
a name, for without it there can be no certainty of 
expression when discussing problems in which force- 
ful phenomena are involved. 

New names are objectionable ; they should never 
be given to an old subject, they are apt to distract 
the mind at a time when clearness of perception is 



52 THE THREE CIRCUIT?. 

indispensable. For obvious reasons the choice of old 
names lies between electricity and magnetism. 

Electric force is new to us ; its power has been dis- 
covered or rather brought into use as it were yester- 
day, and to-day Ave make a servant of it to carry 
messages, light our homes and to transport ourselves 
and our burdens. These improvements, following 
each other in quick succession, have created a litera- 
ture in which electricity is the central figure. Con- 
sequently the word has acquired a restricted meaning. 
Indeed, it has been so intimately connected with a 
particular class of phenomena that it is now nearly if 
not quite impossible to use it as a name for the force 
involved in world-formation. 

Magnetism is the older name ; as a mere question 
of taste it is preferable. Like all old names it has a 
certain dignity of sound not found in the word elec- 
tricitv. Magnetism has alwavs been the most occult 
force in nature ; apparently it yields no signs except 
those of the simplest and most impressive character. 
It is a lode-stone that ever silently points ; in the full 
grandeur of its power it will not be a servant. Let 
us, then, for the time being, accept the name and apply 
it to the scientific force underlying all natural phe- 
nomena. 

Magnetic force is not derived from gravitation ; 



WHA T IS MA GNETIG FORCE ? 53 

nor from the decomposition of organic substances ; 
nor from the expansion or contraction of matter 
within earthly limits. It is more nearly the cause of 
these things than the effect of them. Considered as 
a primary force, we have all the knowledge of it we 
can have of anything ; we feel it, see it, taste it and 
smell it every day of our lives. It is* the fragrance 
of the rose and the stench of the cesspool. 

Such a subject cannot be examined by one genera- 
tion of men and explained by the next. It reaches 
backward to the time when God said : " Let there be 
light! " and forward into eternity. The theory of its 
operation may not be demonstrated during the life 
period of a race of men. 

Since this is the case, whatever hypothesis conforms 
to, and explains the greatest number of phenomena 
and appears antagonistic to the least number will be 
accepted. This is the crucial test ; it is not at present 
a question of absolute truth, but a question of the 
nearest approximation thereto. 

Then what is magnetic force ? Where does it come 
from ? Where does it go ? 

Having so stated the subjects I intended to treat 
I began to feel a nervous chill passing through my 
body and a cold perspiration gathering on my brow. 

What is magnetic force ? I repeated ; can it be 



54 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

possible that I have forgotten these things? I must 
be laboring under some mistake. Have I actually 
lost the keys or did I ever have them ? Beginning 
to feel desperate I rose and walked the floor; this 
partially quieted my excitement, and I sat down 
again and read the manuscript until I again reached 
the unanswerable questions. What is magnetic force f 
Where does it come from f Where does it go f 

There was no answer, and I thought I would give 
the price of the best tract of land in the county for 
just five minutes talk with Flex, but there was no 
hope of that. 

Then feeling bitter toward the world and all there 
is in it, I rolled up the manuscript and placed it in a 
pigeon hole saying to myself: 

" What is there in this world but work and dollars? 
I will resume my profession ; hereafter I will hew to 
no line but the legal line. This is the law shall be 
my motto, and whatsoever it gives to me or to any 
man, that shall he have and no more." 

After that my office looked like a den ; it was a den, 
and the years passed on. 

In the year 1883, my wife's health became broken 
and being advised by our physician she went to 
the sea-side, taking our youngest son with her for 
company. The oldest and only other child had 



WHA T IS MAGNETIC FORCE ? 55 

already entered life for himself, and so I was left 
alone. 

Oh, how lonesome a house seems which was once 
a home, but is now only a furnished building. The 
master remains but its light and hope and cheerful- 
ness have fled. Have you ever noticed at such a 
time how the continual click-clack of the clock re- 
sounds through every room ? How strange it is that 
a cheerful old family clock should have become a 
misanthrope, and persist in repeating the word, never, 
never, never, never, as if it intended to emphasize the 
fact that Christ will never again stand at your door 
and knock. At such a time one is apt to take a re- 
trospect of one's life, and the manner in which it has 
been spent ; at least I did ; . and among other unpleas- 
ant things there came to my mind, the old work that 
I had destroyed ; the visit and departure of the re- 
flex ; the new manuscript then more than six years 
old ; and I thought, perhaps, I have been too easily 
discouraged. Maybe if I had persevered, I might 
have overcome all the difficulties. To-morrow, I will 
read that manuscript and thoroughly reflect upon it. 

The next year the doctor advised a permanent 
change of climate, and we broke up our home and 
started to travel. During the five years thereafter, 
we visited many of the natural wonders in our own 



56 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

country, and some in foreign lands, and then we es- 
tablished our residence in Washington. 

For a few months, I took pleasure in examining the 
public buildings ; the collection of models in the 
patent office, the Smithsonian Institute, the Corcoran 
Art Gallery, and then I settled down as a regular 
visitor at the Capitol. 

Here was a building erected regardless of cost; 
adorned with frescoes that had taken half a lifetime 
to execute ; here were statues that great states had 
deemed worthy to present to the nation. Here, also 
one might hear the speech of a statesmau, or listen to 
the harangue of a demagogue. On the whole it was 
just the place for me to spend a quiet hour or two 
with my own thoughts and speculations. 

How long I continued to enjoy this I cannot say, 
but after while I became weary, and then I began to 
think of my past experience. 

One afternoon I was sitting at home with my feet 
against the side of the fire-place in the old law-office 
style ; I had been thinking of old times ; it seemed to 
me that all had gone well, that our troublous days 
had been very few. Indeed, it seemed as if they had 
all been bright and happy ones, and I longed to have 
them over again. I thought what a pleasure it would 
be to circle with friends around a camp-fire and eat 



WHAT IS MAGNETIC FORCE ? 57 

buffalo meat. I felt sure that no meat in Washing- 
ton was half as good ; and so I said to the brave little 
wife who had been with us in all the Kansas calami- 
ties, " I have made up my mind to visit Oklahoma 
next week.' 7 

" I hope you will not think of such a thing," she 
replied; "I would remain here this winter and enjoy 
the comforts of the city and its entertainments. The 
territory is a wild country ; its comforts are few, 
its hardships many." 

" I want to see the plains," I said, " and hear the 
crack of a rifle and the rough voices of frontiers- 
men." 

u You cannot turn the hands on life's clock back- 
ward," she very gently replied. And then reflecting 
a moment, added : " Since time drags so heavily, why 
do you not finish your treatise." 

"That is just what I will do," I said, rising and 

going toward . And then I resumed my seat, 

thinking, what is the use. Don't I know the situa- 
tion of affairs in that manuscript? What is mag- 
netic force f 

It was a bitter recollection, and I fiercely put on 
my great coat and strode to the Capitol. 

Seated in the rotunda, I soon began to take an in- 
terest in the crowd of sight-seers. They are from all 



58 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

parts of Ihe country; their manner and dress quite 
different, but usually in good form ; the seats are 
tolerably well filled ; here and there small groups of 
men stand chatting and smoking cigars. Two young 
men in sailor's garb are looking at the picture of De 
Soto discovering the Mississippi river ; three or four 
sisters of charity have just gone out at the east door. 
My thoughts are on none of these things ; there are 
several ladies, evidently from abroad. The guides 
are describing the paintings and other things in a 
low voice, that comes to me in fragments : " That 
Bronze Door ; " " Fifty-six Thousand Dollars ; " 
" The Baptism of Pocahontas ; " " Seven Years ; " 
" The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis." All this was 
lost to me. My thoughts had drifted along with a 
small company into the old house of representatives, 
now an art gallery. I saw the mosaic of Abraham 
Lincoln, and thought about his life and services and 
the prominent place occupied by him in later Ameri- 
can history. Turning a little to the left, there stood 
the colossal statue of Ethan Allen ; contributed by 
the State of Vermont, done by L. C. Mead ; and I 
thought, here is a sculptor who conceived the image 
and the spirit of a military hero, and summoned him 
from the times of Bunker Hill and Quebec. Out of 
cold marble he has created it, and placed it here 



WHA T IS MA GNETIC FORCE f 59 

in his country's capitol ; I was filled with emotion ; 
and I said, " Heavenly Father ! All these years I 
have faithfully studied the works of thy creation, 
hoping to find enlightenment that would enable me 
to finish my work. Thou only knowest how hard I 
have tried to wring the secret out of nature itself, and 
that I have found thy flaming sword guarding it at 
every point ; now all has failed and I come to thee." 

At this time a small company were passing toward 
the senate chamber, and a familiar form parted from 
them and approaching me rapidly said, " Do you re- 
member me ? " 

u Indeed, I do, you are my old Kansas friend." 

" I am the reflex." 

" Yes, I know, but why did you not return ? " 

" I was not permitted," he replied, and then plac- 
ing his arm in mine he said : " Will you go with 
me?" 

" Anywhere," I answered, and we walked together 
as we had years before. 

"How are you getting on with your work?" he 
asked. 

Then I related what I had done with the old work, 
the commencement of the new one, and I was about 
to recount the places I had visited, when he inter- 
rupted me and said : 



60 THE THREE CIBCUim 

" Yon may forbear, I was with you ; I have been 
with yon on every mountain top and in every valley, 
I have laid beside yon on the hot sands of the Yellow- 
stone, while sulphurous steam and ominous growlings 
issued from every fissure. There we saw the great 
geyser's outburst and heard the roar of the hot water 
as it fell to the earth and ran in scalding streams to the 
river. I knew yonr thoughts all the time, but I had 
no message; now I am sent to refresh your mem 
And I have brought you to this place so that you 
may realize the importance of the message, and re- 
ceive it in the presence of your country's capitol." 

And he handed me a folded manuscript As I re- 
ceived it I saw that we were standing on the dome 
of the capitol. 

" Dear friend," I said, " Will you not remain and 
help me revise what I have written ? it is so very 
im perfect-" 

"I cannot," he replied, "I am strictly enjoined 
not to interfere with your work at this time." 
" Then," said I, " since you have failed me I will 
put my trust in the Lord God Omnipotent 7 ' 

u And then you may rely on the reflex," he re- 

He was gone; — the twinkling stars were sh: 
brightly in the heavens. Beneath ; the great arc- 



WHA T IS MA GNETIC FOB GE? 61 

lights of the city blazed and scintillated, and I thought 
shall I ever know; — What is magnetic force f Where 
does it come from f Where does it go f Then a cold 
wind swept across the summit of the building, and 
with it came from afar off the sonorous voice of a 
minister reading to his people. 

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His right- 
eousness, and all these things shall be added unto 
you." 

Then I drew my coat more closely about me and 
descended the stairs. 

The manuscript was superscribed at my old home 
in Kansas, dated November 6, 1876, and addressed to 
me personally. 
I will read : 

" These pages are written with a three- fold object; 
the first is to view the force we call magnetism at its 
fountain-head, and learn by analogy from whence it 
came, and what may have been among the first works 
thereof. 

"In the second place, will be presented such phe- 
nomena as tend more or less directly to prove the 
main theory, and particularly such as remain unex- 
plained on other hypotheses. 

" The third object, you are supposed to be in frame 
of mind to contemplate without special explanation 



62 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

at this time. If you are not you may as well aban- 
don the subject at once; for you are admonished 
that you never will realize the glory of the heavenly 
bodies, nor understand their condition and the rela- 
tion they bear to each other, until you have cast off all 
the grosser abstractions derived from your present 
environment. 

"You must know that in the universe distance is 
a secondary consideration. Miles have no relation to 
infinite space. Time is but the measure of passing 
events. Unfortunately, there are grosser conceptions 
which will occur to you ; these are a murderous weight. 
There lies the ' valley arid the shadow of death.' It 
may not be amiss to call your attention to an every- 
day example of this. 

" In the suburbs of the city there is an electro-dy- 
namo ; a single wire forms a circuit; to the small boys 
it seems a very simple contrivance and apparently of 
no use at all. Many men talk of its usefulness, and 
there is no end of preaching its merits and proclaim- 
ing the danger of improperly using it. 

"A very small boy says, 'I know all this talk 
about it is nonsense, I believe it is confined to weak- 
minded people; I intend to pay no attention to it.' 
He talks in this way, thinks in this way, until the 
admonition of his elders has left his mind ; he has 



WRA T IS MA GNETIO FOB CE? 63 

lost all fear of the wire ; audaciously he takes hold of 
it with both hands ; he is dead ! 

" In the field we are about to enter, condition is 
everything ; things are near or far from each other 
with reference to their condition. This is an axiom 
in a higher science than we are now considering. 

" If you disregard the admonition here given, you 
will not be able to understand the thesis nor follow 
its sequences to their ultimate conclusion ; you will 
forget yourself; the full dignity of a man will de- 
part from you, and the mighty events of an eternity 
past will sweep on through an endless future without 
your having any knowledge of them. Had there been 
no laws in force except such as you have heretofore 
deemed scientific, this w T ould have been your condi- 
tion ; you had became so engrossed with affairs which 
were of little consequence to you, that you forgot the 
Great First Cause. 

" You boldly attempted to construct an universal 
theory with the Creator of it all left out ; and you 
are not to forget that you failed. 

" You are again reminded that magnetic force 
is an expression of the conflicting relationship sub- 
sisting between the bodies of matter that compose 
the universe. Not only between the heavenly 
bodies, but between every particle of matter in the 



64 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

universe, whether the same be gaseous, aqueous, or 
solid. 

"The first expression of this force operates in the 
line of unlike presentation ; it is, therefore, an attrac- 
tive force in polar direction, causing the aggregation 
of diffused matter into worlds. This is an universal 
condition. 

" Its second expression is that of repulsion where 
the like poles of two magnetic bodies of matter are 
presented to each other. This is also an universal 
condition. 

"Its third expression is the equilibrial effect of at- 
traction and repulsion. It is, therefore, an expand- 
ing and contracting force. 

" These counter-forces cause the whole universe to 
tremble, and every particle of matter to be in a con- 
tinual state of vibration. For this reason, matter as- 
sumes the three forms referred to, air, earth and water. 
Correctly speaking, magnetic force cannot be said to 
be moving in any direction. But it causes material 
to move, and therefore a knowledge of its operations 
can be more easily acquired by considering that it 
exists in currents. After while, you will be able to 
comprehend it as a rectilineal contraction toward an 
infinite number of centres in certain directions. A 
rectilineal expansion from the same centres in other 



WE. A T 18 MA GNETIC FOB CE ? 65 

directions, and a curvilinear adjustment acting inter- 
mediately between them in all directions. But this 
is a profound thesis. You will not be able to thor- 
oughly understand it until you abandon the idea that 
north and south, east and west, right and left, up and 
down are universal terms. 

" What is magnetic force? It is the expansion and 
contraction of the universe consequent to the fact, 
that each particle of matter in it is striving to 
maintain its individuality. Where does it come 
from? It is the power of God, and therefore an 
ever-present reality. You may consider it the di- 
viding line from which the heavenly sciences ascend 
and those of earth descend. Make its three expres- 
sions your study, and all the natural phenomena 
will marshal themselves in their proper order. 

" You will write ! " 



66 zzz zzizz :::.'_~::z~ 



CHAPTER III. 

WORLD FORMATION. 

Astronomers -vh have studied the structure of 
the solar system, are of the opinion that it was once 
a nebula. And that the changes which have taken 
place have been accomplished by the natural forces 
inherent in matter. 

If : re than two centuries ago, Bene Descartes con- 
ceive the idea that universal space wa- :: first filled 
with particles of ether or fluid matter endowed with 
a rapid spiral motion ; with these vortices he endeav- 
ored to explain the formation of the universe and the 
movements of the heavenly bodies. 

; * The general idea now entertained is that primordial 
matter has accomplished the work of world formation by the 
action of gravity aided by molecular forces. It is assumed by 
some, that on physical principles, primordial matter widely 
distributed would pass through the following changes : Gravi- 
tation would cause the mass to contract and become more 
dense : this would be followed by atomic repulsion which, act- 
ing against gravitation, would produce heat. After a certain 
degree of condensation had taken place, molecular combina- 



WORLD FORMATION. 67 

tion would result. This would be followed by radiation and 
precipitation of the binary atoms as floculi floating in the 
rarer medium. These floculi will tend toward a common cen- 
tre, but as the mass is irregular the motion will be really to 
one side of the centre. This will result in a spiral movement. 
Mutual attraction will produce groups of floculi moving 
around local centres of gravity. There will be here and there 
detached portions, which will not coalesce with the larger 
internal masses, but will slowly follow, thus accounting for 
the formation of comets. " — Library of Universal Knowl- 
edge, vol. x., p. 450.* 

Continued investigation and discovery furnishes 
strong indications pointing to the conclusion that the 
natural phenomena, light, temperature, magnetism, 
electricity, etc., all spring from one primary force, 
and that the simplest manifestation of this force may 
be found in a common magnet. 'Faraday says: 

" I have long held an opinion amounting almost to a con- 
viction, in common, I believe, with many other lovers of 
natural knowledge, that the various forms under which the 
forces of matter are made manifest, have one common origin." 

It may be considered as an established fact, that 
the earth is a magnet, and that there is a magnetic 
connection between it and the sun. It needs then 

* An admirable presentation cf the nebular hypothesis 
written by the late Richard A. Proctor, may be found in the 
American Cyclopaedia, vol. xi., p. 201. 



68 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

only to be stated, that the sun and the planets are 
magnets ; and if so, why not the asteroids and comets, 
and, indeed, every particle of matter existing any- 
where in the interstellar spaces ? This seems to be 
the legitimate conclusion. 

Then may we not assume that the solar nebula was 
composed of material, every particle of which was en- 
dowed, in like manner as the earth is endowed, with 
the power of attraction and repulsion and consequent 
polarity and axial direction.* 

There is no doubt that the solar nebula contained 
all the elemental ingredients found in the earth, and 
that its particles were capable of exhibiting in a 
feeble manner the phenomena of temperature, light, 
and perhaps others. 

We say in a feeble manner, for it is certain that the 
magnetic strength increases as the size of the aggre- 
gations increased. And this being true as to mag- 
netism, it is doubtless true as to temperature and 
other phenomena. From this we infer that the tem- 
perature of the nebula and its particles was very low 
at first, and that as aggregation proceeded it increased 

* Repellant power is not usually ascribed to the earth ; 
but to deny it is to deny that it is a magnet. If it be a mag- 
net, it surely would repel another planet if a "like presenta- 
tion ' ' of them occurred. 



WORLD FORMATION. 69 

and the heat tended towards the centre of the aggre- 
gations ; and we assume that this process is still under 
way. 

The polarity of the needle depends on its being a 
magnet; its axial direction depends on the fact that 
the earth is a magnet. In like manner, we may say 
the polarity of the earth depends on its being a magnet, 
but on what does its axial direction depend ? Her- 
schel says : 

"In the annual motion of the earth, its axis preserves at 
all times the same direction as if the orbital movement had 
no existence ; and is carried round parallel to itself and point- 
ing always to the same vanishing point in the sphere of the 
fixed stars."* — Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 362. 

We are taught that the solar system is only a small 
portion of an infinite universe; and that the force of 
gravity is universal. I am prepared to accept both 
conclusions because I believe the force of gravity to 
be simply an expression of magnetic attraction, and 
that its complement, the force of repulsion, is also 
universal. I would enlarge the idea conveyed by the 
word gravitation, so as to bring the force meant by 

* The earth undergoes considerable changes of axial direc- 
tion during the precessional period, but this fact does not 
weaken the force of any conclusions drawn from its axial sta- 
bility. 



tO THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

it into correlation with the magnetic phenomena; 
and then, I conceive, that polarity and axial direc- 
tion will take their proper places in the economy of 
the solar system. 

We are unable to fully understand what force is, 
even under local circumstances. How much more, 
when the processes we ascribe to it begin to assume 
infinite proportions. Nevertheless, I venture to offer 
the following hypotheses. 

I suggest that magnetic force exists in three cir- 
cuits,* and that axial direction is the effect of the 
currents of the first circuit, acting north and south 
through our system and other systems in the same cir- 
cuit, and generally connecting our system and each 
member thereof, whether the same be the sun, a 
planet, an atom, or a molecule, with the entire uni- 
verse of matter, thereby causing their polar mag- 
netic relation to be the same as that which would 
exist between magnetic beads strung in a circle, Fig. 1. 

Choosing the north simply for a starting point and 
the earth for an example, the first circuit approaches 
the earth in a curved line from the next system lying 
north of ours ; reaching the north pole it merges in 
the earth's second and third circuits, after which it 

* The word circuits is used as a convenient term. I mean 
by it simply universal forceful expressions. 



WORLD FORMATION. 



71 



proceeds from the south pole in a curved line to the 
next system lying south of ours, and from thence 



Fig. 1, 



*\ 



> 



-* 






N --- 



-S 



*-' 



10 






aft in - 

through all the systems in the same circuit, forming 
an ellipse or circle to the place of beginning.* 

It will be seen that this circuit is universal in 
every sense. Owing to its position in polar direc- 
tions all the particles of matter within its course are 
arranged as shown in Fig. 1, with their unlike poles 

* These descriptions are made to conform to the popular 
idea of magnetic currents. Personally, I conceive magnetic 
force to be more in the nature of a stretched rubber cord, in 
which slight and infinitely rapid changes of tension are con- 
stantly taking place. 



72 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

presented to, and in fact impinging on each other. 
Therefore it is an attractive aggregative circuit. 

The currents of the second circuit enter the earth 
at its north magnetic parallel.* From thence they 
proceed toward the centre of the earth to the heated 
margin,f thence following the dips and sinuosities of 
the heated margin to a corresponding radius at the 
south magnetic parallel ; thence emerging at the place 
last mentioned they return on the outside of the earth 
to the place of beginning. Fig. 2 shows a single 
line of both circuits. 

The return of the second circuit through the at- 

* The north is again simply taken as a starting point. 
The magnetic parallels do not conform to any geographical 
degree of latitude. Certain points of magnetic intensity have 
been called the " true magnetic poles ;" these are sometimes 
found north and sometimes south of what may be called the 
mean magnetic parallel. 

t When a magnet is heated to redness it loses permanently 
every trace of magnetism. Iron also at a red heat ceases 
to be attracted by the magnet. At temperatures below red 
heat the magnet parts with some of its power, the loss in- 
creasing with the temperature. The temperature at which 
other substances affected by the magnet lose their magnetism, 
differs from that of iron. Cobalt remains magnetic at the 
highest temperature, and nickel loses this property at 662° 
Fahrenheit. — Universal Library, vol. ix., p. 362. 



WORLD FORMATION. 



73 



mosphere is somewhat in the tortuous direction of its 

inward route. 

Fig. 2. 



tt 




v& 



From which it appears that the circuits form a 
junctional union at the magnetic poles; jr IQ> 3, 
and that within the body of the earth 
they are separated by the heated por- 
tions of the earth. Of course the ab- 
sence of one form of force means the 
presence of another. That is the third 
circuit. 

If we dip a magnet in iron-filings, 
they will adhere to it as in Fig. 3. 

Lay a sheet of paper on a magnet 
and sprinkle iron-filings upon it, theywill arrange 
themselves as in Fig. 4. 

The first example shows attraction, and therefore, 
the course of the first circuit. That the magnet pos- 
sesses any other force does not appear ; because the 



S3! 






'# 



74 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



Fig. 4. 







filings having been repelled from the centre of it 

their weight has carried them 
away. 

The second example shows 
both attraction and repulsion ; 
but as the repel 1 ant force is not 
sufficient to overcome both 
weight and friction, and push 
the filings out to their proper 
places, the course of the second 
circuit is not perfectly ex- 
hibited. 
We assume, that if the magnet and filings could be 
FlG 5# freely suspended, the latter 

would be found arranged as in 
Fig. 5. 

So far we have had only an 
equatorial view of a magnet 
and its forces in plane. Fig. 
6, represents a polar projection 
of the same magnet. Here re- 
pulsion, or the third circuit, is 
all that appears. 

Pictures can go no further. 
If we desire to see a magnet with all its forces in 
operation at once, we must imagine it and the filings 



«\ V \\«7,«V.7/// '' ■ 

— -^-»\< '.v.*,'.»; ft', ' :■'■: -,'-::: - 






\\\\ 







WORLD FORMATION. 75 

in perfect suspension : absolutely in equilibrio. Then 
we can see the extremities of the magnet gathering 
in and incorporating the filings, 
and its central parts at the same 
time pushing them off. And 
we can also see that though 
the magnet is a bar, the ma- 
terial and the operation assume 
at once a spherical shape. ''0///Mifi^$$^ 

'"//iiijV,.^- 

Now leaving this example, 
and assuming that Fig. 4 is the earth, and studying 
its forces in plane, we find that as the joint forces of 
the first and second circuits are examined northward 
from the north magnetic parallel to the north pole, 
they represent more and more the influence of the 
system lying north ; until at the pole itself, the 
filings on the magnet and the magnetic needle on 
the earth stand vertical ; showing that the cun has 
lost its power, and that the system lying north has 
assumed full control. 

We also find, that as the force of the second cir- 
cuit is examined southward from the north magnetic 
pole to the equator, it gradually becomes more and 
more repellant until at the magnetic equator* it is 

* The magnetic equator does not conform to the geographi- 
cal equator. 



THE THREE CEECUlTS. 

fully so. And there are do filings attached to the 
magnet and the needle lies horizontal on the earth, 
proving that such chaDge has taken place. 

From the junctional union we have endeavored to 
describe, springs the third circuit. It is the true 
physical expression of the counter-forces involved, 
that is to say, the dynamical effect of two forces act- 
ing in different directions. 

The currents of the third circuit are supposed to 
flow around the earth from east to west. Therefore? 
its course is at right angles to that of the solar and 
earthly first circuits ; at acute angles to their second 
circuits, and exactly in the opposite direction to the 
course of the sun's third circuit, which we assume 
also flows from east to west. 

The existence of the first circuit is shown by 
the polarity and axial direction of the earth, sun 
and planets. The existence of the second is proven 
by the inclination and declination of the magnetic 
needle. 

The third circuit is more occult. It is, indeed, one 
of nature's profound secrets. So much so that it re- 
quired the magical skill of one of the most eminent 
physicists of modern times to discover it.* 

Considered from one aspect, the second and third 

* Andre Marie Ampere. 



• WORLD FORMATION. 77 

circuits seem to be local ; from another, universal. It 
is probable that all or nearly all the electrical phe- 
nomena under our control spring from these two cir- 
cuits. The tension of the first circuit may be so 
great that its forces cannot be drawn from except by 
the processes of chemical union or dissolution. 

It has been briefly stated that the earth's third cir- 
cuit flows in an exactly opposite direction to the 
course of the same circuit of the sun, and yet that 
both flow from east to west. For example, draw two 
circles opposite to each other on thin paper, Fig. 7. 
Indicate the direction of the currents from east to 
west, that is, from right to left, as maps are con- 

Fig. 7. 




'/ \ 




structed. You will observe that though both cur- 
rents are apparently running from east to west, yet 
where they approach each other they are running in 
opposite directions. 

Now place the paper between yourself and a strong 
light. Look at the figure through the paper. You 



78 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

discover that the direction of the currents has appar- 
ently changed by merely changing the point of ob- 
servation, so that they now appear to be running 
from west to east. One thing remains unchanged. 
They are still running in opposite directions. 

We learn from this figure that east and west, right 
and left, may be misleading terms when they are ap- 
plied to a rotary movement. 

Let us linger with this figure just a moment and 
imagine that it is a mechanical contrivance ; that the 
circles are iron cog-wheels rapidly rotating. Now 
bring them together as if you would place them in 
gear. You realize that they will not follow each 
other in train, but that they will rebound and that 
the sparks will fly. In fact they will repel each other 
because they are running in different directions. 

However, the figure is not intended to illustrate a 
mere mechanical movement, but to explain the cur- 
rents of the third circuits around the earth and sun ; 
each flowing from east to west and yet in opposite 
directions, and so offering a reason for the magnetic 
law that " Currents running in the same direction 
attract and those in opposite directions repel." 

When the reason for a law is known the law itself 
is not very soon forgotten. 

It follows from the premises that the earth and sun 



WORLD FORMATION. 79 

repel each other because of the " like presentation" of 
their poles, and that their third circuits are expressions 
of the fact. 

As to the production of light and heat, we will 
offer the following suggestions : 

If the analogies heretofore considered be sufficient 
to warrant the conclusion that every particle of matter 
in interstellar space is a magnet, then the molecules or 
atoms of our atmosphere are magnets, and in such 
case the currents under consideration are as numerous 
as the molecules, and the latter are arranged in the 
form indicated by the magnetic needle, that is to say, 
lying horizontal at the equator and standing perpen- 
dicular at the magnetic parallels and at the poles. 
From which it arises, that as the diurnal revolution of 
the earth proceeds, the currents of the solar second 
circuit are forced through the earth's atmospheric 
molecules lengthwise at the equator, and angularly at 
the magnetic parallels, and the molecules being already 
charged, are in this way subjected to an overcharge 
which renders them transparent and causes them to 
glow with magnetic excitement, i.e., force. This over- 
charge we infer is light. 

To be more explicit. As diurnal revolution pro- 
ceeds there are rapid changes of magnetic presentation 
taking place, caused by the attractive currents cross- 



80 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

ing the repellant currents in the molecules of the air. 
These changes of presentation are similar to those that 
take place in an electro-dynamo. 

The tenuous atmosphere farther away from the 
earth and the sun being under so much greater ten- 
sion, its molecules are in condition to receive and 
transmit the mutual force of the two bodies without 
exhibiting any phenomena except the lowest, — dark- 
ness and cold. 

The overcharge proceeds toward the earth; reach- 
ing the ground-line its direction is changed by the 
full force of the earth's currents and it then proceeds 
toward the nearest magnetic pole. This change of 
direction causes increased vibration in the particles 
of solid matter, and this is heat. 

The intensity of solar heat depends entirely on the 
sharpness of the angle made by the advancing cur- 
rents after reaching the earth or some of its con- 
stituents. 

In this way we may account for the intense heat 
of the sun when its rays are vertical, and its diminu- 
tion when the angle of incidence is less. Herein is 
also the reason why the air will not readily receive 
heat from the sun but will from the earth. The over- 
charge from the sun is not heat but force, which only 
becomes heat when it is resisted. 



WORLD FORMATION. 81 

We will now commence at a time when our solar 
system and those adjacent to it, north and south, 
formed a continuous body of primordial matter.* 

Assuming its particles to be arranged as shown in 
Fig. 1, they would then be undergoing magnetic com- 
bination, chemical union and condensation. This 
process would be likely to create central aggregations, 
and nebular segregation would then be the inevi- 
table result, that is to say, the nebulous matter sur- 
rounding certain centres would be drawn away from 
that surrounding other centres by the shrinkage re- 
sulting from interior condensation at the different 
stations in the first circuit. 

After separation, the particles composing our solar 
nebula would still be undergoing the same process, 
and as attraction in our nebula would be acting 
against the same force in those lying north and south 
of it, condensation would take place more rapidly at 
its centre and accordingly there we find the greatest 
aggregation. For the same reason, while aggrega- 
tions might take place anywhere in the nebula, the 
most important of them would be located near its 
equatorial plane. 

* We assume primordial matter to be aqueous vapor con- 
taining all the elemental ingredients and that the air is a 
clarified sample of it. 



82 THE THBEE CIRCUITS. 

In these situations no doubt solid matter was first 
developed. 

Accordingly the sun and all the planets acquired 
a solid nucleus comparatively near the same time. 
Their growth has been the effect of precisely the 
same processes, therefore a description of the growth 
of one of them will be in a general way a description 
of all the others. 

Xow let the sun be an example. Conceive it as a 
small spherical body located in the centre of the 
nebula, the latter extending far beyond the present 
limits of the svstem. Bear in mind that it is envel- 
oped with particles of matter, each endowed with 
polarity and axial direction. Such being the case, 
is it not more than probable that it has aggregated in 
the past, and still is aggregating similar to the man- 
ner in which iron -filings attach themselves to a bar 
magnet ? With this difference : that in the example 
of a magnet the process is instantly begun and 
finished, while in the case of the sun it is continuous 
and possibly endless, on account of the outside resist- 
ance referred to. 

We may then say that the flow of primordial 
matter began at both poles of the sun, forming at 
first right line extensions to its axis and moving to- 
ward its centre. As the material sank into the sun 



WORLD FORMATION. 83 

the central tension became greater and greater and 
the flow spread out in the form of a funnel, moving 
farther and farther away from the rectilinear, leaving 
the spaces passed over still occupied by the rarer 
medium (Fig. 8).* The effect of this was threefold. 
First. — The flow became vortical; this form of 
motion being superinduced by the angularity of the 

Fig. 8. 



''■////; 






movement acting against the stability of the axial 
direction of the sun and the incoming bodies. 

Second. — The attraction between the sun and the 

* Fig. 8 is intended to show onty that portion of the nebula 
in the immediate neighborhood of the sun. The nebula is 
to be imagined as extending outwardly and as having other 
aggregations taking place in it f 



84 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

bodies composing the flow became more and more 
tangential as the size of the bodies increased ; causing 
the sun to rotate and also a similar but more rapid 
rotation of the other bodies involved. 

Third. — The perfectly attractive presentation that 
existed at the beginning of the flow became more and 
more indirect as the angle of arrival and departure in- 
creased. Ultimately the flow reached an angle suf- 

Fig. 9. 




s 

ficient to change the presentation from unlike to like; 
and then the incoming bodies were repelled. But 
before this took place, there was a field passed over 
from which the bodies presented their like poles to 
the sun at their nearest approach, and being re- 
pelled they made a complete vortical orbital revolu- 
tion ; still attracted at their aphelion, but repelled at 
their perihelion passages, Fig. 9. 



WORLD FORMATION. 



85 



These are the comets ; they may be considered ru- 
dimentary planets. They are as nearly a well bal- 
anced planet as the polar flow can produce. 

As to their orbits, we remark that elliptical orbits 
are the exponent of the unequal forces acting on the 
bodies moving in them ; therefore, they become more 

Fig. 10. 



' / .' / 



WU$$0iMi 








WwM 



circular from time to time, that being the equilibrial 
form of curvilineal motion. If the ellipse is greatly 
elongated the change of course takes place more 
rapidly. 

Now let the earth be an example; imagine that it 
has contemporaneously undergone the same processes 
until its polar vortices have reached those of the sun. 
The attractive forces of the solar and earthly first cir- 
cuits are now contending for the same material in the 
same field. This is not an example of bar-magnets. 



86 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

The tremendous energies of two heavenly bodies have 
met in the amphitheatre of the solar system ; the re- 
sult is certain. The earth's comets, if there be any, 
are swept away in an instant to whirl in a vortex ; 
the earth itself would follow. It did follow, but being 
firmly held by the same force at both poles it started 
steadily on its first orbital revolution. Fig. 10. 

The earth then having been given its rotary and 
its orbital movement by attractive force, will a 
mere tendency to " fly off at a tangent," if it had such 
a tendency, prevent it from reaching the sun ? Is 
there any probability that it would be a great length 
of time getting there? Would it not fly swiftly in 
constantly diminishing circles or ellipses to its desti- 
nation ? Philosophers answer these questions by sug- 
gesting that " the machinery of the heavens is running 
down." 

Attraction cannot be conceived as anything but an 
aggregative force ; it must be met by some positive 
counter-force which is either equal to it, or at least able 
to contend with it forever. Without such a preserva- 
tive force, the solar system is unbalanced ; nay more, 
the universe is unbalanced, and cannot be conceived 
as an endless reality. 

The course of the earth's second circuit has been 
described. It enters the earth at one of its magnetic 



WORLD FORMATION. 87 

poles and emerges at the other. If you look again 
at the magnet, Fig. 5, you will see that it is appar- 
ently attractive at the places mentioned. Now when 
the polar flow of the earth and sun reached their re- 
spective magnetic poles, it encountered the force of 
their respective second circuits acting at angles to it ; 
and repulsion was the immediate result. This pre- 
vented the flow from proceeding farther toward the 
centre of either of the bodies. For then the physical 
fact that the north pole of the earth is at all times 
indirectly presented to the north pole of the sun, and 
its south pole to the south pole of the sun, began to 
have force and effect. And they repelled each other 
at every point in the earth's orbit. 

Therefore the earth may be considered as being 
carried around the sun by its first circuit of attrac- 
tive force and firmly pressed all the way around 
against the mutual repellant forces of the solar and 
earthly second circuits. And since the forces are not 
equal to each other in this example, the earth pursues 
an elliptical orbit. 

It is possible that the earth's orbit was at first more 
elongated than it is at present. Its aphelion distance 
may have been greater and its perihelion less. There 
are indications pointing to the conclusion that it 
once circulated more nearly about the southern poles 



88 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

of the sun. This may be the reason that the arctic 
regions of the earth are so much better stocked with 
fauna and flora than its antarctic regions. But reflec- 
tions of this kind are not within the scope of our 
hypothesis. 

Our satellite, the moon, is only 240,000 miles from 
the earth ; a magnetic connection between it and the 
earth must have taken place at a very early period, 
perhaps thousands of years before the earth fell under 
the influence of the sun. Such a connection may have 
been the occasion of more important results than we 
are inclined to imagine. We are impressed with this 
idea when we reflect that both bodies may have been — 
indeed, must have been — surrounded with a denser at- 
mosphere, and hence a deeper one than now. And 
that they then formed a comparatively independent 
system ; the earth at that time may have had 
comets circulating about its northern and southern 
poles. And the moon may have shone with a bril- 
liancy not to be conceived at present* However 
this may be, three great circuits of magnetic force 
were undoubtedly established when the earth and 
moon entered into binary relationship. 

* If the moon ever had any comets they probably fell to 
the earth during the period referred to. 



WORLD FORMATION. 89 

That magnetism is an universal force is almost sus- 
ceptible of demonstration. It is known to exist in 
every body of matter from a crystal to the sun. 
Plucker found that the axis of crystallization " tended 
to assume either axial or equatorial directions." 
Faraday says, " all bodies exhibit signs of inductive 
influence." Professor Henry * says, " the forces of 
magnetism act at great distances through all inter- 
posed bodies, and like gravitation diminish in inten- 
sity with the square of the distance." 

Since, then, this is the case, there can be no doubt 
that our hypothesis will conform to all astronomical 
mathematical formulae. At the same time it offers a 
better reason for the results of spectrum analyses 
than can be found in the theory that light and heat 
are radiated in their phenomenal condition. 

It may be asked, why has magnetic force taken so 
small a place in the science of astronomy ? 

I think the answer lies in the fact that gravitation 
as a primary force has been over-rated ; and that the 
merits of magnetism have not been fairly considered. 

* Professor Joseph Henry, Smithsonian Institute, Wash- 
ington, D. C 



90 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 

Magnetic presentation is the key to magnetic 
force. If two magnets are to be presented to each 
other, it is impossible to know what will be the effect 
unless we know whether their like or unlike poles 
are to be presented.* 

If there be a magnetic connection between the 
earth and the sun, the first question that should arise 
is, What is the mode of presentation ? Do they pre- 
sent their like or unlike poles to each other? Since 
we have good reasons to believe that certain phe- 
nomena are the effects of such a connection, we ought 
to apply the key. If we do not we may keep on 
guessing and perhaps never arrive at a correct con- 
clusion. 

The northern and southern aurora? (borealis and 

* We should also know whether there is to be a direct 
polar presentation or an indirect or an equatorial one. and if 
either of the latter, then for accuracy the measure of its 
obliquity. 



NIGBT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 91 

australis) are known to be the effect of such a con- 
nection. Richard A. Proctor, commenting on this 
phenomenon, says: 

"The longest period that has been thoroughly established 

is one of about eleven years The perturbations of 

the magnetic needle undoubtedly attain their maximum ex- 
tent at intervals of eleven years Hence we infer that 

the auroral action waxes and wanes in the same period. A 
remarkable association also appears to exist between dis- 
turbances of the earth's magnetism and the occurrence of 
spots on the sun. It has been demonstrated that the solar 
spots increase and decrease in a period of about eleven years. 

" A great solar outburst witnessed by Carrington and Hod- 
son, September 27, 1859, was not only accompanied by ex- 
treme magnetic disturbances, but on the same day remark- 
able auroras occurred in both hemispheres. Telegraphic 
communication was interrupted on all the principal lines; 
the operators at Washington and Philadelphia received sharp 
electric shocks. 

"Some doubt has been thrown on the supposed connection 
in consequence of the failure of observers to obtain corrobora- 
tive evidence during the past thirteen years, but the con- 
nection between the solar spot period and auroral displays 
has been thoroughly established." 

He then proceeds with tables compiled from the 
observations of Loomis and Kamptz, showing that 
auroral displays occur more frequently at the equi- 
noctial than at the solstitial periods. 



92 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

Referring to the changes taking place in the direc- 
tion of the magnetic-needle, Professor Henry* says: 

"The second system of changes has evident relation to the 
position of the earth in its orbit around the sun and its revo- 
lution on its axis. These changes were at first ascribed to the 
influence of the heat of the sun on different parts of the 
earth. But they have this remarkable character of exhibit- 
ing notably the same amount in the southern hemisphere as 
in the northern and in the tropical as in the temperate zones. 
We must, therefore, ascribe the effect to the direct magnetism 
of the sun itself and consider it established that this lumi- 
nary, like the earth, possesses attracting and repelling poles." 

Further on he gives an illustration of two globes 
representing the earth and the sun, and says : 

"It is evident that in one-half of the orbit of the moving 
globe the northern poles will be inclined toward each other, 
while in the other half the southern poles will be similarly 
inclined. ' ' 

If Professor Henry is right about this, if the north 
pole of the earth is inclined toward the north pole of 
the sun during one-half of the year, and its south 
pole toward the south pole of the sun during the other 
half, this is an instance in which "like poles" are 
presented to each other all the time, and they should 

* Professor Joseph Henry, Smithsonian Institute, Wash- 
ington, D.C. 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 93 

repel each other all the time. If this be not the fact, 
then physical laws cannot be depended on under all 
circumstances. 

It appearing from the premises that the earth and 
the sun ought to repel each other, let us inquire if 
there be not a class of phenomena that point to the 
conclusion that they do repel each other. 

According to our hypothesis, the northern and 
southern auroras, the zodiacal light, the belts of Jupiter 
and its occasional square-shouldered appearance and 
cometic displays are produced by the repellant mag- 
netism of the sun ; and they all may be considered 
as cognate atmospheric phenomena. 

Auroral displays have been described with great 
minuteness by numerous observers in both hemi- 
spheres. Their appearance is too well known to need 
recital. It is certain that they have a magnetic 
origin, and that fact, and what little is known of their 
periodicity, comprises all that has been learned about 
them. 

M. de la Rive says : 

"The electric discharges which take place between the 
positive electricity of the atmosphere and the negative elec- 
tricity of the earth arc the essential and unique cause of the 
formation of the polar light." — Arctic Manual, p. 742. 

"Mr. Lengstrom concluded that an electric discharge 



94 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

which could only be seen by means of the spectroscope was 
taking place on the surface of the ground all around him, 
and that from a distance it would appear as a faint display 
of aurora. " — Arctic Manual, p. 739. 

As to the tails of comets, the general idea is that 
they are formed out of the gaseous envelope sur- 
rounding the nucleus. It is believed, that the gases 
composing the envelope are, by their near approach 
to the sun, expanded and driven away by the intense 
heat of that body. But there are many if not insuper- 
able objections to this hypothesis. Comets have 
been observed with fine tails when further away from 
the sun than the orbit of the earth. In such cases 
the heat from the sun ought not to have been very 
great, and certainly would not have been at the polar 
extremities of the comet. If to meet this objection, 
we suppose the comet to be in a heated condition, we 
are left to solve the problem how it became heated, 
and why it did not cool during its two hundred or 
more years' passage through space? And since they 
are comparatively small bodies, this is not an easy 
question to answer, even if we consider that inter- 
stellar space is no colder than the region five or six 
miles above the earth, and also assume that the comet 
has made but one revolution. 

But the heat hypothesis is subject to still greater 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 95 

objections, and one in particular, which seems con- 
clusive against it. This objection lies in the fact, 
that comets' tails do not follow the comets in their 
wake, but are always extended at angles to their 
course and sometimes at almost right angles. Now 
it seems impossible for a body to be moving in an 
ellipse with almost lightning speed, and at the same 
time carrying a gaseous appendage extended millions 
of miles at a large angle to its course. Under such 
circumstances the appendage would be forced to fol- 
low in its wake, or we can place no reliance on physi- 
cal principles. 

The following quotation is a lucid description of 
the phenomenon ; and also a forcible presentation of 
the obstacles that prevent us from assuming that 
comets' tails are composed of any kind of matter with 
which we are acquainted. 

"In no respect is the question of the materiality of the 
tail more forcibly pressed on us for consideration than in 
that of the enormous sweep which it makes round the sun 
in perihelio, in the manner of a straight and rigid rod in de- 
fiance of the laws of gravitation, nay even of the received 
laws of motion, extending (as we have seen in the comet of 
1680 and 1843) from near the sun's surface to the earth's 
orbit, yet whirled around unbroken, in the latter case, through 
an angle of 180°, in a little more than two hours. It seems 
utterly incredible, that in such case it is one and the same 



96 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

material object which is being brandished. If there could be 
conceived such a thing as a negative shadow, a momentary 
impression made upon the luminiferous ether behind the 
comet, this would represent in some degree the conception such 
a phenomenon calls up ; but this is not all. Even such an 
extraordinary excitement of the ether, conceive it as we will, 
will afford no account of the projection of lateral streamers ; 
of the effusion of light from the nucleus of a comet toward 
the sun ; and its subsequent rejection of the irregular and 
capricious mode in which that effusion has been seen to take 
place ; none of the clear indications of alternate evaporation 
and condensation going on in the immense regions of space 
occupied by the tail and coma — none, in short, of innumerable 
other facts which link themselves with almost equally irre- 
sistible cogency to our ordinary notions of matter and force." 
— Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 599. 

From which we ought to promptly conclude that 
we are laboring under a fundamental error. 

When we see a comet flying swiftly along its peri- 
helion with its luminous tail extended on its right 
side, we are profoundly impressed with the idea that 
the sun is exerting toward it a repellant force. It 
seems as if a strong wind, proceeding from the sun, 
is carrying away a volume of luminous dust which 
by attractive force is still held attached to the nucleus. 
Closely observing the tail we notice that the repellant 
energy, whatever it may be, is very irregular or in- 
termittent. Sometimes the tail flashes out to an im- 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 97 

mense distance, and then instantly shrinks back as 
if the power were slightly withdrawn. In a mo- 
ment it flashes out again. The length of these 
flashes and subsidences can only be estimated 
in millions of miles. Evidently we are viewing 
swifter movements than can be made by any kind 
of matter. 

An auroral display is also a night-side phenomenon. 
Its flashes and subsidences are also intermittent. Its 
streamers sometimes appear to reach the zenith and 
then momentarily shrink back and flash out again in 
precisely the same manner. 

It is scarcely necessary to add that I consider the 
tail of a comet as an auroral display of magnificent 
proportions. 

I am also inclined to believe that the "square- 
shouldered " appearance of Jupiter which certainly 
has been seen by some astronomers, and which has 
not been seen by others who have had equal oppor- 
tunities,, is the effect of an auroral display on that 
planet. Of course we only see the day -side of Jupiter, 
but this would not prevent auroral protuberances at 
its magnetic poles from being seen at times when 
there was an unusually fine display. Such protuber- 
ances, seen at four places on the apparent rim of the 
planet, would fully account for the appearance re- 



^S zee zei.ii ::zcz:ts. 

ferred to. Oar hypothesis also accounts for the fact 
that it is only seen occasionally. 

But leaving this, I believe :::at the forces of at- 
traction and repulsion very nearly counterbalance 
each other so far as our earth is concerned, and that 
consequently we would have no auroral displays were 
it not for circumstances which I will endeavor to ex- 
plain, first remarking that the conditions to be ex- 
plained are not considered as peculiar to our plane: 

magnetic poles of the earth are located about 
the 65° of north and south latitude.* Investigation 
has shown that they do not extend uniformly around 
the earth at any geographical degree, but that they form 
a zigzag line around the earth, with certain points of 
inte: isity round sometimes north and sometimes south 
of what may be called the mean magnetic parallel. 
Bv analogy I assume that the magnetic poles of the 
sun form a similar zigzag line around that body near 
its 65° of latitude. Then if it be true or even ap- 
proximately true as I have suggested, that the earth 
is carried around the sun by the first circuit of at- 
tractive force and at the same time firmly pressed 
against the mutual repellant force of their respective 
second circuits, the diurnal revolution of the earth 

* Accnracv is not aimed at or necessar 



NIGHT- SIDE PHENOMENA. 99 

would cause the magnetic points of intensity near the 
earth's magnetic parallel to be constantly matching or 
mismatching similar points on the sun and the irregu- 
larity in both phenomena would be accounted for. 

For instance, let the 65° of north latitude be the 
mean magnetic parallel on both earth and sun. Let 
a certain point of intensity be located one degree south 
of this mean parallel on the earth and another in a 
similar situation on the sun. Now it is certain that 
when these two points matched each other (as the 
diurnal revolution of both bodies would be sure in 
time to make them do) the actual distance between 
magnetic poles would be shorter than when such 
points matched at the 65° or 66° of latitude, and 
this shortened distance would represent the increased 
force just the same as if the bodies had been brought 
that number of miles nearer to each other. Now the 
earth does not move back to satisfy the demands of 
this condition. But the second circuit of the sun 
advances beyond the semi-diameter of the earth at 
the equator, and as the diameter of the earth is much 
less at the 65° of latitude, the counter-forces may be 
said to pass through the earth and some distance be- 
yond it at the degree of latitude last mentioned. But 
this would not produce light on the night-side were 
it not for the fact that before the sun's advancing cir- 



100 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

euit reaches the surface of the night-side it comes in 
contact with the inside route of the earth's second 
circuit on that side. The effect of this is that the 
earth's circuit is checked and the light-producing 
counter-forces are thrown backward and forward 
along its route, forcing faint flashes of light upward 
on the night-side of the earth near its magnetic 
parallels. These are the streamers. I have seen 
them at the 37 z north latitude reaching almost to the 
zenith. They have been seen quite frequently as low 
as the 28°, and it has been stated that an auroral 
display was once seen at Havana. Cuba. 

Auroral displays occur more frequently during the 
equinoctial than during the solstitial periods. This 
confirms our hypothesis, the position oi the earth and 
sun at the equinoctials being such that both north 
and south u like poles " are presented to each other or 
at least more nearly so than during the solstices. 

The solar outburst witnessed by Carriugton and 
Hodgson and the remarkable auroral displays and 
magnetic disturbances accompanying it occurred 
within a few days of the autumnal equinox. We 
assume that all the phenomena were the effect of a 
simultaneous matching of magnetic points of inten- 
sity on both hemispheres of the earth and sun. 

The variation in the appearance of auroral dis- 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 101 

plays is hardly worth considering. Light is the most 
fitful of all phenomena. How many persons if sta- 
tioned at a sharp angle to a mirror could state what 
objects it would reflect without looking at it? We 
have all seen the reflection of a great fire when the 
fire was out of sight; and the mirage brings objects 
into view that we knew were below the horizon. 
Conclusions drawn from every-day phenomena are 
sufficient to account for the different appearance of the 
aurora. 

The zodiacal light is a lenticular shaped body of 
light occasionally seen in moderately high latitudes 
after sunset and before sunrise. In low latitudes 
it is almost a regular nightly occurrence; near the 
equator it is a very brilliant phenomenon frequently 
seen at midnight on the eastern and western horizons 
simultaneously. It is generally believed to be a solar 
appendage ; some speculation has been indulged in as 
to whether it is composed of gaseous or solid matter. 
Proctor says : 

"The most probable interpretation of the zodiacal light is 
that which regards it as caused by multitudes of minute bodies 
traveling around the sun. At the same time two points must 
be carefully noted. In the first place there are phenomena 
of the zodiacal light which indicate some resemblance be- 
tween its structure and that of comets' tails. So that not 
only meteoric matter alone, but cometic matter also is prob- 



102 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

ably present in it." — American Cyclopaedia, article Zodiacal 
Light. 

Why this great astronomer avoided the words 
gaseous matter and used the words "cometic matter" 
cannot be answered. It is certain that we know 
nothing about cometic matter as distinguished from 
gaseous matter. 

I do not know whether all the great astronomers 
are agreed that the zodiacal light is a solar append- 
age, but I do know that there are many thoughtful 
persons who are not of that opinion. 

I remember having read about ten or fifteen years 
ago, the report of a convention of " scientists " which 
had been held in England, in which it was stated 
that " an old gentleman from the interior," so the 
report ran, " read a paper before the convention in 
which he gave his reasons for believing the zodiacal 
light to be an atmospheric phenomenon. At the 
close of the reading Richard A. Proctor rose and pro- 
nounced the views advanced in the paper wholly un- 
tenable ; the old gentleman made no reply." I have 
sometimes thought that he may have had no reason 
to keep silent except that he did not want to tilt with 
the first English astronomer of the day. 

From April 2, 1853, to April 22, 1855, the Rev. 
George Jones, chaplain of the United States Navy, 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 103 

while cruising with the Japan expedition in the Pa- 
cific ocean, took 341 observations of the zodiacal light 
and charted each one of them They were taken 
almost daily during the time mentioned. The charts, 
together with his explanations and deductions, were 
published by the government as a supplemental re- 
port to the report of the expedition. I will not 
attempt to give a synopsis of the work ; nothing 
short of the report itself can do Mr. Jones justice; 
one has only to read it to be convinced that he was 
an able, conscientious, careful investigator. More- 
over he was an unbiased observer, as fully appears 
in the report. 

Mr. Jones notices the intermittent character of the 
light, and he also describes a swelling out, both later- 
ally and upward, of the pyramid with an increased 
brightness of the light, and then "in a few minutes 
a shrinking back of the pyramid and a dimming of 
the light and so back and forth for three-quarters of 
an hour." 

This indefatigable observer came to the conclusion 
that the zodiacal light is a ring of matter surround- 
ing the earth. His opinion was, that the apparent 
changes of the location of the phenomenon, as seen 
from different stations not widely separated, pointed 
conclusively to the fact that it is a ring of nebulous 



104 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

matter located relatively near the earth, and certainly 
within the moon's orbit. 

He cites some cases in which he thought the moon 
was the cause of the phenomenon, and when referring 
to these cases says : " For myself, I have no doubt 
that what I saw in the cases given was really zodia- 
cal light produced by the moon." 

Mr. Jones knew that in recording the fact that he 
had seen the " zodiacal light produced by the moon," 
he was placing himself in direct opposition to the 
solar appendage theory, and also to the conclusions 
of many learned astronomers. Therefore, he remarks, 
" There was no subject connected with these observa- 
tions which I so carefully watched." 

He also endeavors to show that his idea of a " nebu- 
lous ring surrounding the earth " is in harmony with 
the nebular hypotheses and in this connection says : 

"This great theory of Laplace, called his nebular hy- 
pothesis, appears to be looked upon by astronomers with 
wonder, almost with awe ; and as a theory which they may 
scarcely dare to touch. Although it is regarded with favor, 
yet there are few cosmologists who venture a decided opinion 
upon it, and while there are few points from which it can be 
controverted, Laplace himself seems to have exhausted 
what can be said in its favor in the few lines which he has 
given to it in a manner far from positive and in a retired 
corner of his book. If the theory be true, however, we have 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 1*05 

reason to think that no one of the planets may have absorbed 
in itself all the nebulous matter of the ring from which it 
was originally formed ; and that consequently there may be 
to each of them a remainder substance in the form of a ring 
or rings with the planet for its centre. In the case of Saturn 
such rings are visible by the aid of our glasses. To Jupiter 
such rings have given four satellites; for our own globe one 
satellite has been produced and we may well query whether 
there may not be still a remainder of the nebulous matter left 
from the ring originally producing the earth ; the nebulous 
substance of that ring not having been all exhausted in the 
formation of our earth and its moon and showing itself in a 
ring such as we are now considering. ' ' 

As the third paragraph of Mr. Jones' " deductions " 
is in opposition to the hypotheses herein to be presented, 
we quote it in full, leaving the reader to determine 
whether the reason given is sufficient to warrant the 
conclusion drawn. 

" This light cannot be a reflection from our atmosphere 
taking its shape from that ; for the atmosphere though 
brought doubtless by the axial motion of the earth into a 
somewhat lenticular shape, must have its elongation directly 
over the earth's equator ; and the course of the zodiacal light 
shows not the slightest affinity to the equatorial line." 

Mr. Proctor, commenting on Mr. Jones observa- 
tions and conclusions, says : 

"But it is certain that no ring surrounding the earth could 
possibly explain the phenomena of the zodiacal light when 



106 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

they are all considered together, however competent to ex- 
plain the particular phenomena observed by Mr. Jones. It 
is to be noted in particular that the phenomena observed in 
high latitudes, though not so striking as those observed in 
low latitudes, are in reality even more instructive. It will 
be manifest if there were a ring surrounding the earth at a 
distance so moderate that a traveler in tropical regions 
could recognize the zodiacal change of position as he passed 
from the northern to the southern side of the equator it 
would be invisible from places in high latitude. This is 
clearly shown in the writer's treatise on Saturn where the 
configuration of the rings viewed from the different Saturnian 
latitudes has been carefully calculated, not merely surmised 
from general considerations." — American Cyclopcedia, arti- 
cle Zodiacal Light. 

It seems to me that the great astronomer misap- 
prehended Mr. Jones, not as to his conclusions, but 
as to the facts. It was not a " particular phenomena " 
that Mr. Jones had been observing. He scoured the 
ocean while engaged in the work for about 6000 
miles north and south and 15,000 miles east and 
west. He made three hundred and forty-one charts 
exhibiting the structure of the light as it appeared to 
him at morning, evening and midnight at the differ- 
ent stations on his route. It was the zodiacal light 
that he was observing;:. If he did not see the general 
phenomenon he was a very unlucky man. 

Mr. Jones does not say that the phenomenon he saw 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 1 07 

at 53° 30' south latitude could have been seen at 
41° 32' north latitude, nor does he intimate that the 
same zodiacal light can be seen across 93° of latitude. 
He simply records the fact that he witnessed it at 
both situations, and in common with other writers on 
the subject he undoubtedly supposed there was but 
one ring. 

If the zodiacal light is a ring of matter surround- 
ing the earth it could be seen at high latitudes if it is 
sufficiently elevated. On the other hand, if it is a 
ring surrounding the sun, it ought to be a constant 
phenomenon at the 45° of latitude. 

Again the statement that Mr. Jones' conclusions 
were " surmised from general consider utions " is op- 
posed to the record. His charts represent a degree 
of ability fully equal to the work. He supports his 
theory by careful calculations based on well -chosen 
data. He had the advantage of Mr. Proctor in this, 
that he was not calculating the distance of a phenom- 
enon several hundred million miles away, but one so 
near that its apparent place changed because of the 
ship's progress in a single night. 

As to conclusions drawn from Saturn's rings or 
from calculations based on their " configuration ivhen 
viewed from the different Saturnian latitudes" they are 
very interesting. But that planet is about eight 



108 THE THREE CIECriT^. 

times farther from us than the sun, sixteen times 
farther than the planet Mars. In round numbers, 
Saturn is about 800,000,000 miles from us, and its 
greatest diameter is less than 75,000 miles. We may 
suppose that an error amounting to a very small frac- 
tion of a hair's breadth would alter the result of any 
calculation thousands of miles. However this mav 
be, I think 780,000,000 miles is too far to bring a 
witness, not to corroborate an hypothesis, but to dis- 
pute the facts of our home phenomena. 

With Mr. Jones' three hundred and forty-one 
charts lying before me, I do not hesitate to say that 
either the facts apparent on the face of them must be 
refuted, or the idea that the zodiacal light is a ring of 
matter surrounding the sun must be abandoned. 

The depth of our atmosphere is usually estimated 
at from fifty to one hundred miles. * The estimates 
for the most part are based on the duration of twi- 
light. Xo doubt they are correct as to the depth 
ordinarily lighted by the sun. But I venture to 
think that there is no essential difference in the com- 
ponent parts of the gaseous medium lying between 
the earth and the sun. That it simply becomes more 
tenuous in an outward direction from the earth and 

* Some persons think that extremely rarefied portions of 
it extend upward five hundred miles. 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 109 

denser again at the neighborhood of the sun. I am 
aware that the ancient philosophers believed in an 
universal ether and that modern physicists have found 
its existence necessary to enable them to explain the 
diffractions, polarizations and interferences of light. 
But as said before, light is a capricious phenomenon, 
and, therefore, deductions from it or from any of its 
manifestations are not to be depended upon with the 
same assurance as those derived from other sources. 

If the density of our atmosphere continues to de- 
crease as rapidly as it does for the first five or six 
miles, there must be comparatively near to us a gase- 
ous medium sufficiently tenuous to allow the heavenly 
bodies to move in their orbits apparently not at all 
resisted. And this would certainly be the case if 
such medium is unable to exhibit any noticeable 
phenomena except when excited by the counter- 
forces of two large magnetic bodies of matter more 
than ordinarily out of equilibrium. 

However, it is evident that the solar rays, whether 
they be light and heat rays or currents of magnetic 
force, do not usually light the atmosphere higher than 
one hundred miles. I think this is not because the 
rarer medium is unable to perform light vibrations, 
but because it requires an extraordinary degree of 
force to make it do so. Indeed, the cometic phe- 



110 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

noniena furnish strong indications that the most 
tenuous medium in space can perform such vibra- 
tions whenever the binary magnetic forces are operat- 
ing in it with sufficient intensity. 

I think the reason our atmosphere is not lighted 
higher, lies in our hypothesis that the earth's third 
circuit, being simply a dynamic expression, is not or- 
dinarily strong enough to produce the necessary 
vibration higher than the distances mentioned. 

I believe that the forces of the first and second cir- 
cuits of every heavenly body pass through space with- 
out causing any noticeable phenomena until they 
reach some other large body and then their third cir- 
cuits rise and our senses recognize phenomena which 
are their natural counterpart. 

I do not mean that " atoms" or molecules of 
matter have no third circuits. I am only speak- 
ing of that degree of phenomena recognized by our 
senses. 

In short, I believe that the light and heat recog- 
nized by us, are confined to the region in which our 
third circuit acts with sufficient power to aid in their 
production, and that the height to which it acts is an 
exponent of the distance the solar and earthly poles 
are separated. That when there is a matching of the 
nearer points of intensity, our third circuit rises on 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. Ill 

the night-side, and when such is not the case it rises 
higher on the day-side.* 

In like manner and for the same reasons the solar 
third circuit is not ordinarily strong enough to aid in 
the production of noticeable light farther away from 
the surface of the sun than perhaps 10,000 or 15,000 
miles. Outside of the action of great third circuits, 
I believe space is everywhere dark and cold. 

The second circuits are supposed to contend with 
each other throughout our solar system. We cannot 
say throughout the universe, because infinite space 
cannot be contemplated as an entirety. 

The sun, with an atmosphere from 10,000 to 15,- 
000 miles deep, may have a finer climate than the 
earth, for it does not follow that its atmosphere would 
be any heavier on account of its depth, the latter being 
simply a measurement of magnetic repulsion, i.e., an 
expression of solar equilibrium. And on general 
principles, all things conform to the usual condi- 

* I am of the opinion that the " copper-colored " appear- 
ance of the moon seen when it is totally eclipsed, is due to 
the magnetic relationship existing between it and the earth, 
and not to the light reflected from our atmosphere. Our 
earth presents its night-side to the moon during a lunar 
eclipse. And what is called "the new moon in the old 
moon's arms," I account for in the same manner. 



112 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

tion of the forces and effects around and about 
them. 

The light and heat received by the sun on account 
of its connection with the earth must be considered 
with reference to its condition. We cannot say 
that it receives as much as we receive from it, 
yet the effect may be just as beneficent in every 
respect. 

Before proceeding further with our inquiry as to the 
origin and nature of the zodiacal light, it becomes nec- 
essary to note the condition of our atmosphere conform- 
able to our hypothesis. It is clear that it must be re- 
garded as a residuum of primordial matter. Hence its 
particles should assume on the different parts of the 
earth the same inclination and declination assumed by 
the magnetic needle, that is, horizontal at the mag- 
netic equator and perpendicular at the magnetic 
parallels and at the poles. Being arranged as stated, 
the earth is attracting them and they are attracting 
each other vertically at the magnetic poles and re- 
pelling each other laterally; while at the magnetic 
equator the earth is repelling them and they are re- 
pelling each other vertically and attracting each other 
north and south. (See Fig. 10.) This ought to cause 
the atmosphere to be deeper, i.e., denser at a greater 
height at the magnetic equator than at the poles. 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 113 

The effect of this on atmospheric tides and aerial 
phenomena cannot be estimated. 

The effect of the sun's magnetism on our atmos- 
phere is the same, whether we consider it attractive 
or repellant. To estimate it, however, is a difficult 
problem, not so much on account of its tangential 
character, but on account of our ignorance of the 
manner in which a gaseous body moves when under 
the influence of such forces. Therefore, we are 
compelled to theorize. 

If a sea of nearly uniform depth encompassed 
the earth, sound reasoning would lead us to con- 
clude that the attractive force of the sun at the 
time of an equinox would cause an elevation of the 
water near the equator, and that diurnal revolution 
would prolong the elevation into an equatorial belt. 
When the apparent course of the sun ran north, por- 
tions of this belt would break off and follow it. 
When the rays of the sun became vertical at the 
Tropic of Cancer, there would be an elevated belt near 
that parallel. When the sun started south, portions 
of this tropical belt would follow it, the loss being 
supplied by a flow from the north. This would 
make these belts somewhat permanent, but not of uni- 
form depth even considered hourly. 

Again, when the sun is vertical at the equator, the 



114 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

greatest tangential effect of its attraction is at the 
poles. But as the sun changes its position, the polar 
tangents change theirs, so that when the sun's rays 
are vertical at the Tropic of Capricorn the northern 
tangent is at the Arctic Circle and the southern be- 
yond the south pole. 

The tangential effect east and west need not be 
taken into consideration, as it is for the most part 
overcome by diurnal revolution. 

A little reflection on this shifting of the attractive 
force, leads to the conclusion that there would be in 
our imaginary sea an elevated belt at the equator, and 
one at each of the tropics, and another at each of the 
arctic circles.* 

Of these belts the equatorial would be the most 
permanent; the tropical somewhat stable, and the 
arctic if they exist at all, would be inconstant and 
very irregular in form. 

* These belts not being the effect of centrifugal force, 
but of the attraction of the sun, their location would corre- 
spond very nearly to the ecliptic. Mr. Jones says : u A 
plane passing through the centre of the zodiacal light as it 
shows itself through the varying latitudes of these observations 
would correspond pretty nearly with the ecliptic; but how 
near the two planes approach to a coincidence, it seems to be 
yet impossible to say." 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 115 

The fragmentary belts following the sun would of 
course extend from east to west in a general way, yet 
sometimes the eastern and sometimes the western end 
of them would first leave the main belt. This would 
give them an inclination which would probably not 
be very greatly changed until they were absorbed in 
the general flow. 

We have assumed the elevation of the water to be 
the effect of the sun's attraction ; at the same time, we 
must bear in mind that the belts are the effect of the 
diurnal revolution of the earth, and since the day-side 
of the earth is constantly becoming its night-side, the 
general result is precisely the same, whether the force 
be attractive or repellant. 

Now let the force be repellant, and let the supposed 
sea be the real atmosphere. Then, when portions of 
the atmosphere break from the belts they should fol- 
low the sun with considerable regularity, and this 
they certainly would do if the force involved were as 
uniform as the force of gravity. I have endeavored 
to show that the force is not uniform, but is subject 
to daily, hourly, and momentary pulses of magnetic 
intensity. The result of which is that while the belts 
are following the sun* in a general way they are 

* Mr. Jones's records on the zodiacal light read as follows : 
"Through July of 1854, the apices in the evening were de> 



116 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

liable to be, and often are set forward or backward as 
the pressure is increased or diminished. The baro- 
metric "highs" and " lows" indicate the passage of 
these fragmentary belts over the land, when by in- 
creased or diminished pressure they are rapidly driven 
forward or set back, waves of different temperature 
are forced together and condensation and precipitation 
are the result. At such times storms are frequent and 
barometric changes take place rapidly ; moreover the 
molecules composing the warmer cloud-masses within 
the belts form local circuits in which the force is mov- 
ing in a certain direction. If these meet with colder 
masses in which the force is moving in the same di- 
rection they coalesce, i.e., establish an equilibrium 
without any phenomenal disturbance. But they are 
just as likely to meet with similar circuits charged 
with opposing currents, and when this occurs, both 
circuits are instantly broken up, and the freed force 
descends with a flash of light to the earth where it is 

cidedly on the northern side of the elliptic though my lati- 
tude was only about 25° north ; while in September of the 
same year though my latitude was nearly as before, the apices 
were on the southern side." He also notices that the zodia- 
cal light and the ecliptic quite frequently cross each other. 
In short his observations conclusively show that the light is 
by no means a stationary phenomenon. 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 117 

converted into heat ; the latter being simply another 
expression of the same thing. 

It may be asked whether there be any analogies 
supporting the hypothesis in so far as it relates to the 
belts. 

I am of the opinion that the belts of Jupiter cor- 
roborate the hypothesis ; I am willing to believe that 
since we find atmospheric belts on his surface, we may 
find similar ones on some of the other planets if we 
are looking for them.* That whether we do or not, 
we may find better evidence of their existence here at 
home where we have admitted the possibility. 

I am willing to go further and believe that the 
form of Jupiter's belts may, in a general way, repre- 
sent the form of the earth's belts. 

Herschel says : 

" The disc of Jupiter is always observed to be crossed in 
one direction by dark bands or belts presenting the appear- 
ance in Plate III. Fig. 2 ; which represents this planet as 
seen on the 23d of September, 1832, in the twenty feet re- 
flector of Slough. These belts are, however, by no means 

* Other planets may not have belts. Jupiter undoubtedly 
has a very deep atmosphere. Also the inclination of his axis 
is only about 3°, and since the force involved is sometimes 
greater and sometimes less, the condition of Jupiter is very 
favorable to belt formation. 



118 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



alike at all times ; they vary in breadth and in situation on 
the disc (though never in their general direction). They 
have been seen broken up and distributed over the whole 
face of the planet ; but this phenomenon is extremely rare. 
Branches running out from them, and subdivisions as repre- 
sented in the figure, as well as evident dark spots are by no 
means uncommon." — Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 512. 

Fig. 11. 




Jupiter's Belts. 

Our Figures 11 and 12 represent the usual appear- 
ance of Jupiter as seen in powerful telescopes ; the 
lighter portions of their discs correspond to the deeper 
portions of his atmosphere. We notice that a frag- 
mentary belt has broken from the south tropical belt 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 



119 



and is apparently moving north to join the equatorial 
belt. A similar but not so well defined fragment 
has parted from the equatorial belt and is moving 
north to join the north tropical belt. Compare these 
figures with any good sketch of this planet made at a 
time when the belt formations were well defined. 

Fig. 12. 




Jupiter's Belts. 



As we ascend mountains the temperature of the 
atmosphere decreases about one degree for every 300 
or 400 feet, and its density diminishes at about the 
same rate. From which we learn that it is deeper 
above the valley than above the mountains. Let the 



120 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

mountains be our barometer and examine their testi- 
mony. At the equator perpetual frost is found at an 

elevation ol about 15.000 feet, at the 60 c north lati- 
tude it is found at about 4000 feet. From this we 
are not to infer that the depth of the atmosphere 
varies to that extent ; nor need we suppose that its 
depth is the principal cause, but it is certainly one of 
the causes and it may be a more important one than 
we have considered it. 

One is apt to think that a- we proceed north or 
south from the equator, the perpetual frost line creeps 
down the mountain sides with considerable regularity 
and that the irregularities that do occur are the effect 
of different exposures to the rays of the sun, or of 
humidity and other local causes. But even guarded 
in this way the assumption does not meet the case. 

The following table ip. 121) of frost line observ- 
ances is taken from Olmsted's Philosophy revise;! by 
Snell. It is an old work but a very good one. 

We notice that in the first five degrees the frost 
line falls only 122 ire: : in the second. 3SS ; in the 
third. 569; in the fourth, 779; so far it fails with 
considerable uniformity. But in the next five de- 
grees there seems to be some disturbing cause at work ; 
the line onlv falls 689 feet, which is less than it fell 
in the preceding period. Then from the twenty-fifth 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 



121 



to the thirtieth degrees, as if the cause had been sud- 
denly removed, it plunges down 1438 feet, more than 
double the distance it fell in the preceding period. 



. 

Latitude. 


Altitude. 


Difference 
for each 5°. 





15,557 




5 


15,455 


122 


10 


15,067 


388 


15 


14,498 


569 


20 


13,719 


779 


25 


13,030 


689 


30 


11,592 


1438 


35 


10,664 


928 


40 


9,016 


1648 


45 


7,658 


1358 


50 


6,260 


1398 


55 


4,912 


1348 


60 


3,684 


1228 


65 


2,516 


1168 


70 


1,577 


959 


75 


748 


809 


80 


120 


628 



We may say that observations of this kind are not 
to be implicitly relied on ; that the uniformity may 
have been broken by some of the local causes re- 



122 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

ferred to. Yet, when we remember that the tropical 
lines are located near the centre of the five degrees in 
which the irregularity is found, the facts leave a strong 
impression on the mind that the cause of the irregu- 
larity is not local. 

Now bringing our knowledge of the earth's con- 
vexity to bear on the facts, we realize that between 
the twentieth and twenty-fifth degrees of latitude, 
there is a belt of atmosphere which, inasmuch as it 
fails to conform to the configuration of the earth, 
may be said to be an elevated belt. 

It is probable that the table does not comprise a 
great number of observations, particularly in the very 
high latitudes. No doubt, they were all taken within 
the periods in which they are tabulated, yet greater 
numbers may have been taken higher or lower in 
them, and therefore the data would be more satisfac- 
tory if the observations had been arranged in degrees. 

I do not claim that these observations strikingly 
corroborate the atmospheric belt hypothesis, but I 
do claim, that they indicate the probability of such 
belts at or near the tropics, and the possibility of 
lower ones at or near the arctic circles, but the mag- 
netic arrangement of the atmospheric molecules, may 
prevent any noticeable rise at the localities last men- 
tioned. 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 1 23 

Applying the appearance of Jupiter's belts to the 
supposed belts of the earth it becomes necessary to re- 
member, that we are observing Jupiter's belts spread 
out in their respective situations apparently in low 
relief, while the spectator of the zodiacal light is 
observing the crest of the belt then producing the 
phenomenon. 

I consider that the zodiacal light is caused by pre- 
cisely the same magnetic conditions which cause the 
auroral displays; with this difference, that in the 
latter the counter-forces (by reason of the smallness of 
the earth's diameter at the auroral locations) rise high 
above the earth's central night-side. While in the 
case of the zodiacal light the greater diameter of the 
earth prevents them from doing so. Hence the zo- 
diacal light is seen on the eastern or western horizon 
and when there is a very fine display it may be seen 
at midnight on both horizons. Moreover, in an 
auroral display the counter-forces are emanating from 
the earth under the feet of the arctic traveler, while 
in the zodiacal light the earth's night-side second cir- 
cuit is not brought into such close contact with the 
solar circuit. 

To avoid being misunderstood I will repeat. Our 
atmosphere is not considered as having an upper sur- 
face in the ordinary sense. The supposition is that 



124 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

all the rarer medium, however tenuous it may be, is 
able to exhibit luminous phenomena, such as we are 
able to recognize whenever the counterforces of two 
magnetic bodies of sufficient strength are operating 
in it. 

For instance, if we suppose the earth suddenly 
brought 10,000 miles nearer the sun, the northern 
and southern aurorae would rise correspondingly high 
on its night-side, and the zodiacal light would also 
rise ; and that if the earth could then be seen in per- 
spective it would appear to have five luminous tails, 
perhaps seven. 

My idea is that a comet's tail is not composed of 
the comet's atmosphere except to a very limited ex- 
tent. It is the forces that have extended their sway 
and the universal atmosphere is responding to them. 
In other words, vibrations have proceeded outwardly 
from the comet and vibration is light. 

No doubt some of the comet's atmosphere is piled 
up, so to speak, on its night-side. But let us not for- 
get that the tremendous attractive force of the comet 
is acting on its own atmosphere at its poles, and so 
holding its own against the increased repulsion at the 
magnetic poles and at the equator, and hence we see 
the comet's atmosphere peeling off from its day-side, 
passing to its night-side and to its poles. In this 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 125 

manner the individuality of the comet is maintained 
while we are observing it, and since it may be rotat- 
ing hourly or even momentarily the phenomenon is 
a very peculiar one. 

If the premises be true, we learn that a comet's local 
attractive force, derived from its first circuit attach- 
ment to the universe, preserves it from being dissi- 
pated into space, while its own second and third 
circuits, enable it to leave the dangerous proximity 
into which it has been brought. 

Accordingly there is no movement of material 
except that taking place near the nucleus. The 
great tail that extended for millions of leagues and 
swept through an arc of 180° in two hours was 
nothing but a luminous impression ; the sensate 
effect of increased vibration taking place in the in- 
terstellar atmosphere as the triple counter- forces swept 
through it. 

I consider that comet's tails are no more substan- 
tial than the reflection of light thrown from a mirror. 
Herschel likened them to "negative shadows." What 
can negative shadows be but rays of light? 

In his description of the tails he says : 

"Stars of the smallest magnitude remain distinctly visible, 
though covered by what appears to be the densest portion of 
the substance, although the same would be completely ob- 



126 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

literated by a moderate fog extending only a few yards above 
the surface of the earth." — Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 558. 

Dwelling on the same subject, he says : 

"That the luminous tail of a comet is something in the 
nature of a smoke, fog or cloud suspended in a transparent 
atmosphere, is evident from a fact which has often been 
noticed, viz. , that the portion of the tail where it comes up 
and surrounds the head is yet separated from it by an interval 
less luminous, as if sustained by a transparent stratum, as 
we often see one layer of clouds over another, with a consid- 
erable clear spaee between them. 1 ' — Outlines of Astronomy, 
sec. 560. 

From this description we learn that there is an un- 
lighted region lying between the base of the tail and 
the nucleus. Here again the facts corroborate our 
hypothesis. In an auroral display there is also an 
unlighted region between the earth and the base of 
the luminous phenomenon. 

In Chambers' Encyclopaedia we read : 

" The appearance of the aurora borealis has been described 
by a great variety of observers, both in northern and central 
Europe, all of whom give substantially the same account of 
the manner in which the phenomenon takes place. It is 
briefly as follows : A dingy aspect of the sky in the direction 
of the north is generally the precursor of the aurora : and 
this generally becomes darker in color, and assumes the form 
of a circular segment surrounded by a luminous arch and 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 127 

resting at each end on the horizon. This dark segment, as 
it is called, has the appearance of a thick cloud, and is fre- 
quently seen as such in the fading twilight, before the de- 
velopment of the auroral light. Its density, however, must 
be very small, as stars are sometimes seen shining brightly 
through it. ' ' 

In a general description of comets and their move- 
ments, Herschel says : 

"Their variations in apparent size during the time they 
continue visible are no less remarkable than those of their 
velocity ; sometimes they make their first appearance as faint 
and slow moving objects, with little or no tail, but by degrees 
accelerate, enlarge and throw out from them this appendage, 
which increases in length and brightness till (as always hap- 
pens in such cases) they approach the sun and are lost in his 
beams. After a time they again emerge on the other side, 
receding from the sun with a velocity at first rapid, but 
gradually decaying. It is for the most part after thus pass- 
ing the sun, that they shine forth in all their splendor and 
that their tails acquire their greatest length and develop- 
ment, thus indicating plainly the action of the sun's rays as 
the exciting cause of that extraordinary emanation. As 
they continue to recede from the sun, their motion diminishes 
and the tail dies away or is absorbed into the head, which 
itself grows continually feebler, and is at length altogether 
lost sight of in by far the greater number of cases, never to 
be seen more." — Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 561. 

We think a reasonable explanation of the varia- 



128 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

tions and other peculiarities mentioned by Herschel 
can be gathered from our chapter on world forma- 
tion. However, it may not be amiss to briefly 
review the subject. 

In the first place, the orbits of comets are in the 
form of ellipses, but they are not true ellipses, be- 
cause of the vortical manner in which the bodies 
in them move. Comets approach and leave the sun 
as if they were following the periphery of a funnel, 
that is to say at a spiral angle to the sun's axis ; from 
which it arises, that they offer to the sun attractive 
presentation at their aphelion, repellant presentation 
at their perihelion, and equilibrial presentation at 
their equinoxes. Therefore, their tails should be 
extended toward the sun in the first case, away 
from it in the second, and there should be no tail 
in the third case, and probably would not be were 
it not for the matching and mismatching of mag- 
netic points of intensity heretofore mentioned and 
described. 

, If comets could get to their perihelion passages 
with their unlike poles presented to the sun, they 
would immediately coalesce with that body. But 
that is impossible, since the power that is propelling 
them in their orbits, is the same power that maintains 
the stability of their axial direction. 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 



129 



Fig 13. 




Arctic and Antarctic Comets. 



A thing much more likely to occur is the meet- 
ing of an arctic and an 
antarctic comet near 
the plane of the sun's 
equator (Fig. 13). In 
such case the vortical 
character of the move- 
ment would be neu- 
tral i zed . What woul d 
be the result can only 
be conjectured. It is 
not unreasonable to 
suppose that such collisions have taken place and have 
been the cause of many meteoric showers. 

Assuming as we do that the orbits of comets are 
spiral, we notice first that a small segment of such 
an orbit seen at a distance would represent the hy- 
perbolic form ; then reflecting on the fact that the 
bodies moving in these orbits are repelled at their 
nearest approach and attracted at their farthest de- 
parture, and duly considering the nature of vortical 
motion, we arrive at the conclusion that a comet 
leaving the sun in hyperbola may, nevertheless, 
return. 

There is another feature of the cometic phenomenon 
which Herschel describes as follows : 

9 



130 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

" The tails of comets are often somewhat curved bending 
in general toward the region which the comet has left as if 
moving somewhat more slowly or as if retarded in their 
course." — Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 557. 

The cause of this curvature is as obscure as any 
part of the phenomenon. It may be the effect of the 
difference in time required by the light to reach us 
from the nearer or more distant parts of the tail. 
Sometimes the nucleus may have been millions of 
miles nearer to us than the end of the tail ; at other 
times the reverse may have been the case. It requires 
time for light to travel 41,000,000 leagues. 

Although magnetism is an universal force, yet its 
course is impeded by our atmosphere, and it may also 
be in some measure impeded by the universal atmos- 
phere. Evidently it is impedition that causes the tail 
to become fainter and fainter till the end is reached. No 
doubt the forces extend far beyond the end of the tail. 

Even if we were compelled to assume that the 
forces are slightly carried aside from their lateral 
course by the swiftness of their passage through a 
comparatively stable medium, the assumption would 
not be antagonistic to physical principles. And that 
is more than can be said of any theory in which the 
tails are assumed to be composed of any kind of ma- 
terial with which we are acquainted. 



NIGHT-SIDE PHENOMENA. 131 

To say that " cometie matter may be present in the 
zodiacal light " amounts to no more than to say that 
zodiacal matter may be present in a comet's tail. The 
information is not worth the paper it is written on. 
Besides the statement is misleading, inasmuch as it 
conveys the idea that the writer knows something 
about that which he knows nothing about. More- 
over, such statements leave a false impression on the 
mind that philosophers are acquainted with material 
which is neither gaseous, aqueous, or solid, and which 
is therefore not subject to the physical laws. This is 
undoubtedly the character of "cometie matter" and 
that of ''universal ether" also, in all probability. 
Therefore, I am of the opinion that both these in- 
ventions are obstacles to the advance of science. 



132 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 



It is conjectured by philosophers that the sun is 
an incandescent body of matter, and that it has been 
radiating light and heat throughout the solar system 
for millions of years past and that it will be so en- 
gaged for ages to come. Then, since we cannot im- 
agine a distance so great that solar light would not 
reach us if we had telescopes of sufficient power, we 
may include the universe in the supposition and infer 
that all the heavenly bodies are engaged in the same 
work. It is also supposed that the sun is at the same 
time growing larger by the acquisition of meteoric 
matter and showers of "cosmical dust." 

If these conjectures be true, then matter is now 
and always has been gathering and centralizing in 
certain localities while vibrations have been proceed- 
ing outward to fill up the vacancies. This is an 
amazing, strange procedure. One is led to inquire 
what will be the state of sidereal affairs when the 
work is finished and matter shall occupy certain 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 133 

places in the universe and forceful phenomena shall 
have gone elsewhere. 

The mean distance of the sun from the earth is 
estimated at 91,000,000 miles. Its diameter at 853- 
000 miles, or about one hundred and seven times the 
diameter of the earth, so that the body of the sun 
exceeds in size that of the earth 1,200,000 times. 
From this and telescopical observations of the solar 
surface, it has been inferred that the body of the sun 
is for the most part in a gaseous condition. This in- 
ference is mainly drawn from the sun's supposed 
specific gravity. It is no doubt well founded if 
we can rely on the theory that gravitation is the 
motive power that controls the machinery of the 
heavens. 

All our ideas of weight are derived from examples 
of the manner in which the earth attracts detached 
portions of itself to itself. Ounces, pounds and tons 
are simply measures of the attractive force that holds 
the earth together, i.e., prevents its materials from 
dissipating into space. Hence our scales express 
nothing more than comparative measures of the 
earth's inherent cohesiveness. The earth itself can- 
not be weighed, neither can the sun. Such bodies 
are too nearly in equilibrium to sustain any relation 
to avoirdupois. 



134 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

Weight, in a certain sense, is doubtless common to 
all matter, and the attraction of gravity, which is 
another name for the same thing, may be universal. 
But that " law of action " usually ascribed to it and 
stated thus, " the force with which two material par- 
ticles respectively attract each other is directly propor- 
tioned to their mass," is not an universal law bv anv 
means, inasmuch as it cannot be depended on even 
in the ordinary experiments of life. Therefore, it is 
no law at all, but only a convenient fallacy. A good 
magnet weighing two ounces will sustain a weight of 
three pounds and two ounces, or twenty-five times its 
own weight, and one of one hundred pounds will 
sustain two hundred and seventy-one pounds.* It is 
obvious that such bodies do not attract each other in 
direct proportion to their mass. We find all around 
us solid masses and fluid masses which attract and 
repel each other without any attempt to obey the law 
so stated. If it were not so the theory of molecular 
attraction and atomic repulsion would have no place 
in science. Moreover, to give the supposed law any 

* "The magnet worn by Sir Isaac Xewton weighed only 3 
grains, yet it was able to lift 746 grains, or nearly 250 times 
its own weight. One brought from Moscow to London 
weighed 125 pounds, but could support only about 200 
pounds." 



THE SOLA& ENIGMA. 135 

appearance of truth, the word mass must be taken to 
mean weight, and as the attraction mentioned is 
alleged to be due to weight the law may be reduced 
to this: That particles of matter are directly propor- 
tioned to each other according to what they respect- 
ively weigh. The simple fact so stated hardly 
deserves a place in philosophy. 

Therefore, when considering the sun, which we 
have strong reasons to believe is a magnet, we should 
be cautious about accepting inferences as to its physi- 
cal condition unless such inference be supported by 
something more than its estimated weight or its sup- 
posed specific gravity. 

By observations of the spots on the sun's surface, 
astronomers have ascertained that it rotates about an 
axis nearly perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic 
in the same direction as the earth, that is from west 
to east. Its period of rotation has been estimated 
at twenty-five and a third days, it being the mean 
rotation which is meant. For there is nothing 
known about it except what has been learned by 
observing the spots on its surface, and, strange to say, 
they travel across the solar surface at different rates 
of speed, varying from twelve and two-third degrees in 
latitude 50° to nearly fourteen and a half degrees at 
the equator. From which it appears that taking two 



136 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

spots on the solar surface, one in latitude 45° and 
another on the equator, the latter will advance in 
longitude faster than the former, gaining daily about 
two degrees of longitude, so that in about one hun- 
dred and eighty days it will have gained a complete 
revolution ; that is to say the sun's equator makes 
about two revolutions more per annum than the re- 
gions in 45° north and south solar latitude. It is 
clear from this that no reliable data can be obtained 
from observations of the solar surface. For it is not 
to be supposed that the sun is divided into three sec- 
tions and that they are rotating at different rates of 
speed and so grinding the surfaces of each other like 
mill-stones. Evidently we see nothing but the at- 
mosphere of the sun, from the movements of which we 
can expect to obtain but little more information than 
can be had from watching the smoke ascending from a 
tobacco-pipe. We may, however, infer this much, that 
since the atmosphere of the sun is carried forward in 
rotation faster at the solar equator than at the higher 
solar latitudes, there is a probability that our atmos- 
phere may be subject to the same apparent eccen- 
tricity. 

Even if the solar atmosphere were out of the way, 
it is almost if not entirely certain that we can learn 
nothing about the physical or topographical condi- 



• THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 137 

tion of that body by telescopical observations.* Any 
one who has seen a mountain at a distance of one 
hundred miles, will accept this conclusion without 
evidence. 

Herschel says : 

"A single second of angular measure corresponds on the 
sun's disc to 461 miles, and a circle of this diameter (contain- 
ing therefore 167,000 square miles) is the least space which 
can he distinctly discerned on the sun as a visible area.' 1 '' — 
Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 386. 

That is to say, an area on the sun's surface nearly 
four times as large as Pennsylvania, can only be no- 
ticed as a mere dot. 

Here, then, is a fine field for speculation, into 
which all who are so inclined may enter, nor need any 
hesitate, even on account of ignorance, for all that is 
known or conjectured of the sun may be learned in 
a couple of hours, and the facts and conjectures are 
proportioned to each other much the same as Fal- 
stafT's bread to his sack. Nor is it at all likely that 
anything more chimerical will be advanced than can 
be found in the common school books. 

Section 10, Lockyer's Elements of Astronomy, reads 
as follows : 

* We know very little about the physical condition of the 
moon although it is 379 times nearer to us than the sun. 



138 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

"Now why do the stars and sun shine? They shine be- 
cause they are white hoi ; they are globes of the fiercest fire ; 
on their surfaces masses of metals and other substances are 
burning together more fiercely than anything we can imag- 
ine." 

Herschel says : 

" An easy calculation, founded on our experimental knowl- 
edge of the properties of air and the mechanical laws which 
regulate its dilatation and compression, is sufficient to show 
that at an altitude above the earth not exceeding the hun- 
dredth part of its diameter the tenuity or rarefaction of the 
air must be so excessive that not only animal life could not 
subsist or combustion be maintained in it, but the most deli- 
cate means we possess of ascertaining the existence of any 
air at all would fail to afford the slightest perceptible indica- 
tions of its presence." — Outlines of Astronomy, sec. 33. 

In the above quotation, Herschel is explaining the 
certainties of science. Then how can such a confla- 
gration as Lockyer describes be maintained? Have 
we any reason to think that the sun is provided with 
a deeper atmosphere than the earth, the size of each 
taken into consideration? Can we think of a body 
of coal eight feet in diameter surrounded with an at- 
mosphere not exceeding one inch deep, and suppose 
it to be in a state of combustion ? 

We will read again from the Elements of Astron- 
omy, sec. 123: 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 139 

"When the sun is totally eclipsed .... its atmosphere 
is then seen to contain red masses of fantastic shapes ; to 
these the name of red flames and prominences have been given. 
Now as these bodies appear much brighter than the sur- 
rounding atmosphere, we conclude that they are hotter, as a 
bright fire is hotter than a dim one." 

During a total eclipse of the sun the denser part 
of its atmosphere is behind the moon, therefore the 
comparison must be made between the red-flames and 
the outside tenuous medium. It is quite probable 
that the red flames are a little warmer than inter- 
stellar space, but if any great degree of heat is meant 
there is very little to support the inference. Many 
things are brighter than others without being hotter. 
Besides we have a home phenomenon that points to a 
different conclusion. Our northern and southern au- 
rorae frequently resemble red flames which if seen in 
perspective, at a distance of a few thousand miles might 
appear as prominences on the rim of the earth's disc. 
Yet, these earthly red flames have not sufficient heat 
in them to sensibly affect the arctic atmosphere. 

Judging from sketches made by those who have 
observed total eclipses of the sun through powerful 
telescopes, we believe that no two of them will agree 
as to the appearance of the phenomenon at the same 
moment of time. 



140 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



Fig. 14 represents the appearance of the total solar 

eclipse that occurred December 22, 1870. Our 

figure is a copy of an engraving after a sketch made 

Fig. 14.* °y Professor J. R. 

Eastman, who was 
one of the corps of 
astronomers sent by 
the Naval Depart- 
ment of the United 
States to the island 
of Sicily to observe 
the phenomenon. 
The engraving is a 
part of Professor 
Eastman's official re- 
port. The reader 
will observe that 
there may have 
been something like 
Total Eclipse of the Sun, Dec. 22, 1870. a so ] ar auroral dis- 
play underway at the time of the eclipse. 

Fig. 15 represents the eclipse as seen by Captain 
G. L. Tupman at the same time and place ; again 

* In the original engravings there are noticeable phenom- 
ena which cannot be shown without the aid of colored plates. 
Professor Eastman says in his report, "The third and 




THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 



141 



the artist pictures something like an auroral dis- 
play. 

Professor Lockyer's description of the sun spots 
and his conclusions reads as follows : 

" Some of the spots cover millions of square miles ; others 
are visible only in power- jr IG . 15, 

ful instruments and are 
of very short duration. 
There is a great differ- 
ence in the number of 
spots visible from time 
to time ; indeed, there 
is a minimum period 
when none are seen for 
weeks together, and a 
maximum period when 
more are seen than at 
other times. The inter- 
val between two maxi- 
mum or two minimum 
periods is about eleven 
years. Now as we must 
get less light from the 
sun when it is covered 

with spots than when it 

. n n +1 Total Eclipse of the Sun, Dec. 22, 1870. 

is free from them, we r ' ' 

may look upon it as a variable star with a period of eleven 

outer portion of the corona, on the western limb of the sun 
consisted of three projections of light striated or of radial 




142 TEE THREE CIRCUITS. 

years It is also known that the magnetic needle has 

a period of the same length, its oscillations occurring when 
there are most sun spots. Aurorse and the currents of elec- 
tricity which traverse the earth's surface are affected by a 
similar period. There seems, therefore, some connection 
between these things and the solar spots, though what it is 
we do not know. " — Elements of Astronomy, sec. 125. 

Then, as our aurorse have a maximum and mini- 
mum period of the same length, we may also look 
upon the earth as a variable star with a period of eleven 
years. We are not situated so that we can perspec- 
tively view the earth as a planet in space, hence we 
cannot say that it has such spots on its surface, but we 
may infer that it has. 

The same author says : 

" The heat thrown out from every square yard of the sun's 
surface is greater than that which would be produced by 
burning six tons of coal on it every hour. Now we may take 
the surface of the sun roughly at 2,284,000,000,000 square 
miles, and there are 3, 097, 600 square yards in each square mile. 
How many tons of coal must be burned, therefore, in an hour 

structure, resembling the short bands of streamers that are 
frequently seen rising from the auroral arch. One of these 
projections on the northwest limb of the sun was quite small, 
extending not more than five minutes above the limit of the sec- 
ond portion of the corona. The others, one on the southwest 
and one on the northwest limit of the sun, attained an altitude 
of about nine minutes above the second division of the corona. " 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA, 143 

to represent the sun's heat?" — Elements of Astronomy, sec. 
129. 

According to the nebular hypothesis there never 
has been a time when coal could have been formed in 
the sun, and if the professor's philosophy be true, 
there never will be. If we are not mistaken, coal is 
formed from a precedent vegetation. When the sun, 
a body of melted vaporized metals, shall have been 
cooled sufficiently for vegetation to spring up, where 
is the heavenly body that will furnish it light and 
heat and all that these imply? 

Further on the Professor says : 

' ' The whole heat of the sun collected on a mass of ice as 
large as the earth would be sufficient to melt it in two minutes, 
to boil the water thus produced in two minutes more and 
turn it all into steam in a quarter of an hour from the time 
it was first applied." — Elements of Astronomy, sec. 130. 

These are nice calculations; unfortunately, mathe- 
matical facts cannot be questioned. 

Having so described the sun, section 134 opens 
with this remarkable question : 

" Is the sun inhabited f" 

One feels compelled to look twice at these words; 
can it be possible the question remains unanswered? 
Is there room to hope that he will be able to rescue 



144 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

it from the intolerable condition in which he has 
placed it ? Can such a place be the home of men or 
beasts ? We will see. 

" ' If the whole body of the sun is an incandescent globe, of 
course no organized beings of whom we can conceive can live 
upon it. But if the incandescence is confined to its photo- 
sphere, as many think, and the surface of the globe itself is 
protected from its outer envelope by a dense atmosphere 
which absorbs its intense heat aud is at the same time a non- 
conductor of heat, there is nothing to prevent it from being 
inhabited." — Elements of Astronomy, sec. 134. 

The state of things described in the* section quoted 
can exist nowhere except when all the physical laws 
known to us are turned upside down. How can a 
non-conductor of heat absorb heat ? But comment 
is unnecessary. The section is stamped all over with 
notice of the fact that it is an ineffectual attempt to 
avoid the force of our own philosophy. 

In section 135 of the same work we read : 

*" Will the sun keep up forever a supply of the force that 
has been described ? It cannot if it be not replenished,* any 
more than a fire can be kept in unless we pat on fuel ; any 
more than a man can work without food. At present phil- 
osophers know not by what means it is replenished. As 
probably there was a time when the sun existed as matter 
diffused through infinite space, the condensation of which 
has stored up its heat, so probably there will come a time 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 145 

when the sun with all the planets welded into its mass will 
roll a cold, black ball through infinite space. 

Here, then, is the conclusion of the whole matter. 
The infinite universe, according to the professor's 
philosophy, began in a whirlwind of fire and is to 
end in a coal-black, lifeless mass. When this shall 
have taken place, we ask, what will have become of 
indestructible force f And why should a solar corpse 
roll ? What benefit or pleasure will its movements 
be to him who furnishes the power? 

Such philosophy has nothing to recommend it. If 
it accorded with every known physical principle the 
very intuition of a man would rise up and deny it. 

In my endeavors to learn what the photosphere of 
the sun is, I came across the following from the pen 
of Richard A. Proctor: 

"Sir William Herschel, in 1777, began a series of solar 
observations which before long confirmed Wilson's theory. 
He was led to explain the sun's spots by the theory that the 
sun's globe is surrounded by two layers of clouds suspended 
in an atmosphere at different elevations. He supposed the 
upper cloud stratum to be self-luminous, and to be the source 
of light or the true photosphere (to use a convenient term 
invented by Schroeter). The lower layer he regarded as 
opaque, and as owing whatever light it appears to possess to 
the reflection of light received from the upper layer. He 
supposed that when an opening is formed in the outer layer 

10 



146 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

we see merely a penumbral spot, but that when the under 
layer is displaced we see the true surface of the sun, which he 
supposed to be solid, and not necessarily so heated as to be 
unfit for habitation. Modern researches show this part at 
least of Hersch el's theory to be wholly untenable, everything 
tending to prove that the whole mass of the sun to its inner- 
most core is intensely heated." — American Cyclopcedia, vol. 
xv., p. 472. 

Sir William Herschel was one of the greatest as- 
tronomers the world has ever had. His theory so 
briefly stated lacks nothing except the fact that no 
example of a self-luminous cloud can be found, and 
that it furnishes no explanation of the force that is 
constantly radiating from the sun, and yet it is a more 
philosophical hypothesis than that of combustion or 
meteoric collision. However, as we have seen, Proc- 
tor pronounces it " wholly untenable." Proceeding 
further in the article quoted from we read : 

"Newton and Buffon conjectured that comets might be 
the aliment of the sun, and of late years a somewhat similar 
theory (first broached by Waterson in 1853) has been in vogue, 
that a stream of meteoric matter constant]} 7 pouring into the 
sun from the regions of space supplies its heat by the con- 
version of arrested motion. As the sun may indeed derive a 
small amount of heat from this cause, it deserves more at- 
tention than previous conjectures ; but conjecture and hy- 
pothesis may be said to have given place to views which 
claim a higher title, as it is now becoming generally recog- 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 147 

nized in accordance with modern physical theories, that in 
the gravitation of the sun's mass towards its centre and in 
its consequent condensation, sufficient heat must be devel- 
oped to supply the present radiation, enormous as this un- 
doubtedly is. It appears to be susceptible of full demonstra- 
tion that a contraction of the sun's volume of a given definite 
amount which is yet so slight as to be invisible to the most 
powerful telescopes is competent to furnish a heat supply equal 
to all that can be emitted during historical periods." — 
American Cyclopaedia, vol. xv. p. 476. 

If modern researches have as good as proved that 
the sun is " intensely heated to its innermost core," we 
want to know who made these researches, and exam- 
ine their report and learn from it whether the fact is 
established, or whether they have simply assumed it 
in order to avoid difficulties which stood in their 
way. 

Of course, a body of matter heated to its centre 
will take longer to cool than one that is only heated 
on its surface. So will a large body require more 
time to cool than a small one. Of course any hot 
body will become smaller during the time it is cool- 
ing; such philosophical principles are susceptible of 
full demonstration, but they furnish no solution of 
the solar enigma. 

Let the subject under consideration be stated : first, 
Is the sun intensely heated f second. Is it radiating 



148 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

heat throughout the solar system? third, From whence 
does it obtain a supply f 

Assuming tliat the first two questions are answered 
affirmatively. Surely the third cannot be answered 
by alleging that its " contraction is competent to fur- 
nish the supply" 

If the sun and planets were at one time glowing 
with intense heat, we may infer that all the heavenly 
bodies were at an earlier period in the same condition. 
What has become of all this heat? When heat was 
held to be one of the " imponderable substances," we 
had only to maintain that space is vacant and that the 
imponderable substances are constantly wasting or es- 
caping into it. But vibration cannot escape into or 
occupy a vacuum. A vacuum is nothing and there- 
fore not in accord with our best conceptions of unity 
and infinity. The idea that because something exists, 
nothing exists is false. Sound reasoning leads to the 
conclusion that in infinite space there can be no empty 
places. That a sample of every kind of material is 
around and about us; that the primary forces are also 
at hand and subject to our examination ; that we are 
in some way their counterpart, both in our physical 
and in our mental organizations. 

Interstellar space, though not a vacuum, is un- 
doubtedly the nearest approach to that imaginary 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 149 

condition. Therefore it is safe to say, that vibrations 
never escape into it, except when plenty of material 
is accompanying them. 

If all the heavenly bodies have been radiating heat 
into space for millions of ages, what is the matter 
with space that it does not get warmed up ? When 
the sun and planets shall be welded into one mass, 
and "roll as a cold black ball,' will not the space occu- 
pied by the system be nearer a vacuum than it is 
now? Is force seeking the vacant places of the uni- 
verse in which to exhibit its phenomena? 

Some years ago I asked a philosopher these ques- 
tions ; he answered, "I am of the opinion that the 
nebular hypothesis is true, that the planets were at 
one time white hot, and that they have been cooling 
down ever since. I believe the vibrations we recog- 
nize as heat are all the time wasting into space, or at 
least are passing out into the tenuous matter lying 
between the worlds/ 7 

" Do you believe," I said, " that light is also a 
sensation derived from the vibrations of matter?" 

"I certainly do," he replied. 

"Then," said I, "do you maintain that the light 
shed abroad by the earth when it was white hot, 
wasted into space ? " 

He remarked somewhat brusquely, " I am now 



150 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

trying to ascertain from what source the sun obtains 
its supply of heat." 

And I replied, " I am trying to find out where its 
heat has gone to ; when you and I get through, per- 
haps we had better compare notes/' 

That same night I inquired of Flex ; answering 
me he said : 

" Scientifically speaking, all that enables us to re- 
cognize the existence of material is vibration. It is 
that which keeps its elemental particles joined to- 
gether. There is no difference between solid, aqueous 
and gaseous matter, except that due to present and 
past vibrations. Wherever in the universe you find 
matter aggregating you will find the forces accom- 
panying it, and passing on toward the centre of the 
bodies so formed. Wherever you find matter ex- 
panding, you will find the forces expanding, i.e., 
proceeding outward with it; this must be the case 
because the forces are the proximate cause of the fact 
in either case. The earth has always been under- 
going aggregation and centralization ; therefore its 
vibrations are now and always have been tending 
toward its centre. The earth is hotter now than it 
ever was, simply because it is larger now than it 
ever was. Owing to the aggregation of the earth 
and sun their interior parts have become hotter and 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 151 

hotter, while the atmosphere lying between them has 
become thinner and thinner, and therefore colder and 
colder. This has made our atmosphere shallower (to 
use an every -day expression), than it was during the 
geological periods. Therefore the climate of the 
earth was warmer then than now. 

" As to the igneous rocks, lava, etc., you will find 
no cause for embarrassment. The volcanos of the 
earth are still adding to the quantity of these on hand. 
When the continental ranges reared their heads above 
an universal ocean, there was enough of that kind of 
material thrown up to satisfy the minds of the most 
exacting without suggesting the probability that there 
has been a succession of such upheavals." 

We know that our mountain tops even at the 
equator are perpetually frost covered, and that our 
polar regions are inaccessible on account of cold, and 
yet we are asked to believe that the sun has been ra- 
diating heat in all directions for millions of ages. 

If the power of the sun is only sufficient to warm 
the central part of the earth's surface and that less 
than four miles high at the equator, what must be 
the condition of Mars, to say nothing of Jupiter, Sa- 
turn and Uranus? Shall we maintain that the solar 
system came by chance, and that the earth happened 
to be in the only habitable location? Can human 



152 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

egotism go further than to suggest that the earth and 
perhaps a couple of small planets near to it are the 
only worlds in the solar system in which men can 
dwell? 

Imagine a white hot globe of iron or steel twelve 
inches in diameter. Let a small frost-covered shot 
be placed one hundred and twelve feet from it. Now 
let both globes be rotating on axes nearly parallel to 
each other. Is it possible to think that the polar 
extremities of the shot will remain frost covered, and 
that small elevations on its central parts will remain 
in the same condition while small depressions around 
the latter will daily rise to a temperature of one hun- 
dred and ten degrees or more? 

Now let another shot be placed one hundred and 
fifty feet from the heated globe ; is it not certain that 
this one will remain frost-covered until every trace 
of frost is gone from the poles of the other ? 

If the sun is radiating light throughout the solar 
system, why is the space between us and the planet 
Mars dark ? Do you ask whether there be any proof 
that it is dark ? Certainly there is. We know that 
if universal space were lighted up neither the planets 
or fixed stars would be visible. We also know that 
in such case philosophers would not be estimating the 
depth of our atmosphere from calculations based on 



TEE SOLAR ENIGMA. 153 

the duration of twilight. I There has never been a 
better reason given for the color of the sky, than that 
it is the effect of mingled light and darkness ; even 
Goethe's idea of white light seen through " turbid 
media" is not antagonistic to the reason so given. 

Does the heat from the sun pass through an immense 
cold region and make no sign until it reaches the 
earth, or does it diminish from the time it leaves the 
sun until it reaches us? We are told that it dimin- 
ishes in intensity with the square of the distance, but 
is it force, or is it the sensate phenomenon ? If it is 
the latter, why do we find it colder as we ascend ? 
The man up in a balloon at mid-day has started 
toward the sun, now since he finds it colder as he 
rises, will not a radical change have to take place 
before he reaches a heated body ? When will he re- 
ceive the first premonition that there is a great con- 
flagration directly on his route? Will it be at the 
first thousand miles, or at the second, or will he reach 
the sun and then be scorched to death in an instant ? 

Then how does the sun light and warm the earth f 
An answer to this question cannot be obtained by 
either experiment or investigation. If answered at 
all it must be by theory supported by familiar phe- 
nomena. Theory is one thing, wild speculation is 
another thing; when we undertake to plume our 



154 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

imaginations and sail into infinite space we should be 
supported by the very soundest analogies, otherwise 
we will be guilty of presumptuous sin. 

In Manitou, Colorado, there are several fine min- 
eral springs; near the bottom of one of them about 
eight or ten feet from its surface, a small glass ma- 
trass hangs submerged. Within the matrass there is 
a loop of very fine wire, its ends so arranged that they 
can be connected with larger wires leading to an 
electro-dynamo. The wires form a circuit in which 
the loop is a connecting link; now when the dynamo 
is in motion there is a force developed which fills the 
whole circuit ; the larger wires carry it so easily that 
there is no apparent phenomena, but when it reaches 
the fine wire it is impeded in its course and the spring 
is lighted by the incandescence of the loop. This 
light is nothing more than the phenomenal result of 
impeded force. 

Of course there are no wires connecting the earth 
and the sun, but the earth's atmospheric molecules 
arranged pole to pole and equator to equator meet 
those of the sun arranged in the same manner, and in 
this contact attraction and repulsion neutralize each 
other, i.e., establish an equilibrium by means of the 
rapid changes of magnetic presentation constantly 
taking place in the molecules. And the force so 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 155 

eliminated must go to the earth and sun, for their 
movements are producing it.* 

We know but little about the atmosphere and less 
about its molecules ; but we may infer that the mole- 
cules near the earth and sun are smaller than those 
farther away from them. It is our immediate mole- 
cules that represent the fine wire of the loop ; those 
farther off represent the larger wires leading to the 
dynamo. The former respond to an overcharge, with 
transparency and luminous vibration ; the latter are 
filled with the same force but make no sign. 

If we were inclined to indulge in mere speculation 
we would suggest that the molecules are in the form 
of one of the regular solids, f and such a one as will 
fill any given space without interstitial loss of room. 
And that a man may inhale more than a million of 
them in the valleys of the earth. Perhaps half that 
number on the tops of the highest mountains. At a 
height of 100,000 miles his lungs might not be able 
to take in more than a single specimen, and that 
might be vibrating so slowly that the lowness of its 
temperature could not be ascertained or even conjec- 
tured. When philosophical analogies are better clas- 

* See frontispiece, solar and earthly dynamo. 
f Since writing the above, the writer has changed his 
opinion as to the shape of the molecules. 



156 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

sified and compiled, we think more of them will be 
found supporting this speculation than that of the 
solar photosphere. 

But the atmosphere is said to be a non-conductor 
of electricity ? 

The atmosphere is comparatively a non- conductor, 
because it is all the time, both day and night, fully 
charged. Therefore, its molecules can receive no 
more. The light of the sun and the light of a candle 
are each the effect of an overcharge. The incan- 
descent light is the effect of an overcharge at the loop. 
The arc light is the effect of the overcharged at- 
mosphere between the carbons. 

How does a burning candle develop electricity alias 
magnetic force? By the rapid decomposition of fat 
which was once an overcharge in the animal, an 
overcharge of force. Combustion is setting this force 
free, and the molecules are returning it to the earth 
from whence it came. 

Combustion is one of the most abstruse subjects in 
philosophy. We will not attempt to explain it. 
But we will say that the circuits of force proceeding 
from a burning candle are in some respects directly 
opposite in character to those that proceed from the 
earth and sun, for the latter are not at present under- 
going decomposition but the reverse. 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 157 

The incandescent light is an example of force pass- 
ing through darkness and cold and becoming light and 
heat at the place where it is impeded. The propul- 
sion of street cars by electricity furnishes an example 
of the transmission of the same force without impedi- 
tion. Such every-day examples of the peculiarities 
of force ought to have some effect on our general 
philosophy. 

One more example. Some years ago Dr. John W. 
Draper made a series of experiments with lenses. In 
one of these experiments he arranged a twelve-inch 
lens so that the cone of rays proceeding from the sun 
met in the centre of a glass matrass, six inches in 
diameter, filled with water. 

This eminent experimenter observed that the water 
became warm at the focus. Indeed, he saw the hot 
water ascending from the focus. In this example 
the force passed through the glass and three inches 
into the water without making any sign except a 
slight change of direction, but when the converging 
rays met at the focal point, they impeded the course 
of each other and the force changed to heat. Heat 
is a sluggish phenomenon ; force is swifter than the 
lightning's flash. Had it been heat radiating from 
the sun, the water would have absorbed it, i.e., re- 
ceived its vibrations long before they reached the 



158 THE THREE CIECttTS. 

focus. Indeed, the atmosphere would have received 
them before they reached the matrass. If any one 
has ever been able to focus the rays of heat proceed- 
ing from fire, he has not announced the ficfc. 

Place two magnets on a table so that they will at- 
tract each other, but not so near that the force will 
bring them together. Reflect upon their condition 
as they lie there straining at each other. Therr is 
no movement; yet there is a force acting between 
them. Magnetic life has come within reach of :~ ; 
affinity, and the two magnets would instantly be- 
come one magnet if they were in suspension. Re- 
flect again. Possibly the molecules of the atmosphere 
in their immediate neighborhood have arranged them- 
selves in conformity to the forceful currents so estab-^ 
blished, but we cannot prove it. The only thing we 
do know is that force is at work and tha: it is re- 
sisted, and we may infer that if the magnets were 
great enough, the power that seeks to bring them to- 
gether, acting against the power that keeps them 
apart would manifest itself in light and heat. That 
such would be the result is not a speculation of on - 
it is one of the certainties of science. 

N : w call to your mind the fact that our ablest 
astronomers and physicists are thoroughly convinced 
that this same forceful connection exists between the 



THE SOLAR ENIGMA. 159 

earth and the sun. Is there any room to hesitate? 
Is it not certain that the result is light and heat ? 
That we are not able to discover either light or heat 
in our petty example signifies nothing. Some of the 
most important things in the universe cannot be seen 
and some of them cannot be recognized by any of our 
senses. Force is one of these when considered apart 
from sensate phenomena. If we are to believe nothing 
except that which we cnn se3 and understand, we may 
as well dismiss all philosophical inquiry from our 
minds, for in such case the solar enigma is not worth 
solving. 

Suppose we cannot explain the manner in which 
force changes to light or heat, is there any one who 
doubts it? Admit that force is also a phenomenon. 
Are material things more real than that which moves 
them from place to place ? Are the earth and sun more 
real than the power that sustains them in their orbits? 

The sun is a glorious body. Years ago I hoped 
hereafter to make my home in it. I imagined that 
some time I would stroll through its green fields, 
climb its mighty mountains and navigate its rivers 
and oceans. I have not the shadow of a doubt that 
it is inhabited. Therefore, I strenuously object to 
its people being smothered under a philosophical 
photosphere or " hot potted " in a Dutch oven. 



160 THE THREE CIRCUITS, 

Is the sun an incandescent body of matter f From 
whence does it obtain a supply of heat f We will an- 
swer the first question in the negative, and offer the 
following as a solution of the solar enigma. 

Consider the universe as one body of matter in 
which many aggregations have taken place because 
of the inherent attractive and repellant forces existing 
in every particle of matter. Consider that the earth 
exists because of its own cohesiveness exerted against 
every other body of matter in the universe, and par- 
ticularly against the sun, with which it is more in- 
timately connected. Then mutual attraction, repul- 
sion and adjustment becomes the primary scientific 
cause of all natural phenomena. 

From whence came this inherent force f There can 
be no answer, except that given by the reflex, " From 
God Almighty." 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 161 



CHAPTEE VI. 

SNOW CRYSTALS. 

One Saturday night I sat in the library reading 
" Ragnarok, or the Age of Fire and Gravel." Pres- 
ently the clock struck ten, then closing the book I 
began to think about the earth, how curiously it had 
been formed of primordial matter, and wondering 
what kind of material the latter was, and whether 
magnetic force really did gather it and shape it into 
a great round world. If this be so, I thought, then 
it must have piled the materials around the magnetic 
lines that exist in the earth and around the earth. I 
will examine this subject by the way of analogy. 

There was a plate of apples on the table. Taking 
the finest one, I held it up by the stem and said, 
"You shall represent the earth, a molecule of air, or 
anything that is a magnet. Your stem shall be your 
north pole, your blossom end your south pole, and I 
will carve you on the dynamic lines ;" I then inserted 
the point of a knife at its north magnetic parallel 
slanting towards its centre. Then pressing the knife 
to the core, and cutting around in the direction indi- 

11 



162 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

cated I severed a conic section and laid it on the table. 
I then took a similar section from the blossom end 
and laid that also aside ; the remaining section re- 
sembled a double concave lens, but the slope of the 
cut was too angular for that, so I hardly knew what 
to call it. However, I held it up and tried to look 
through the centre of it, but though the light pene- 
trated it I could not see through it, yet I peered into 
it as inquisitively as if I had expected the core to 
yield results of an astonishing character. Still hold- 
ing it in my hand I thought; " Suppose this section 
really were a section taken from some great planet 
like the earth ? How easy it would be for a person 
on one side of it to hear suggestions from the other 
side. In such case he would not know from whence 
they came. And he might not be able to convince 
anybody that he heard anything. It looks like a 
whispering place. When I have more leisure I will 
inquire into it." 

Then I reconstructed the apple and cut it in half 
from the stem to blossom end. Looking at the cut 
surface of one of the halves, I studied the dynamic 
lines and I also made a diagram of them for present 
use and future reference, Fig. 16. 

"This," I said, looking at the diagram; " Is the 
magnetic frame ; the very dynamic skeleton on which 




SNOW CRYSTALS. 163 

the earth was formed. Around these lines the ma- 
terial clustered until it became a world." As I studied 
the diagram I seemed to have a faint remembrance 
of a thousand things resembling: 

XT' i a 

it. Six points ! I said, " What , 

is it that seems so familiar to _ \\ ,<:- :=*> 

me? Somewhere I have seen 
six pointed stars in great num- 
bers and if I am not mistaken 
they were direct from nature's 
workshop ; fresh minted ; — 
Where could it have beenf" 

Reflecting in this way, it presently came to my mind 
that they were snow crystals. Then opening Steele's 
Fourteen Weeks 7 in Philosophy, at p. 253, I found a 
picture of sixteen very fine specimens with the com- 
ments of the author on their wonderful beauty and 
variety,* Fig. 17. I noticed that notwithstanding 
their great variety, they were all constructed on the 
same general plan. Six points projecting from a 

* In Warren's New Physical Geography , there is a cut 
containing thirty-two specimens, all of which are hexagons. 
In this work it is stated that they may be seen on a "dark 
cloth with the aid of a microscope. ' ' I have seen them on 
the ground without such aid ; I never saw any that were not 
hexagons. 



164 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



hexagonal frame ; however, three of them vary 
slightly from the plan. One of them has twelve 
points, which is a multiple of six ; another is an open 
triangle, the lines of which being double I had only 
to imagine them separated and then it also conformed 
to the general plan. The third is a small cylinder 
with three hexagonal buttons strung on it at equal 

Fig. 17. 




distances from each other. It also is a handsome 
specimen and yet it seems out of place among its su- 
periors. I concluded that it was intended to em- 
phasize the fact that there is no rule in nature or art 
that is not subject to exceptions. 

Still considering the subject, I thought, why should 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 165 

these crystals bear the image of the earth's forces? 
Why should not some of them have five points, or 
seven, or any number of points? What has caused 
them to conform so nearly to a general plan ? These 
may be simple questions, I thought, but they are not 
easily answered. 

Looking again at the crystals and the diagram, and 
thinking about the forces represented by them and 
the amazing work of world formation, it occurred to 
me that the atmosphere is probably a residue of pri- 
mordial matter and that drops of water in suspension 
are probably minature worlds. Accepting this to be 
the truth, I concluded, that as the tiny trembling drops 
congealed, it was magnetic force that departed from 
them, leaving a delicate tracery of ice in the very 
image of its three circuits, Fig. 18. 

Then I noticed that Flex had come in and was 
standing by examining the crystals and the diagram, 
and I said : " Is there any error in this line of 
thought?" 

" Not as far as you have gone," he replied, " but 
there is an important matter which you have not 
taken into consideration. Look again at the crystals 
and you will see that nearly all of them have a cen- 
tral piece in which the hexagon is again exhibited. 
Now draw your diagram so that it will show the 



166 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



:x. 



•TV, X 



fc 



03 
U 

03 

— 
CO 

O 

a 

c3 

03 

-t-s 

.5 
^3 

> 

Sh 
03 

a. 

CO 

03 
03 

c3 



03 

a 

03 

H 



1 Y.' 


y' 


! VV 






1 

1 



A, 



*-: 







<4- 

O 



;< 



;;* * 



:* 



C 
O 




0) 

^3 






^*. 



T3 

C 

a 
o 



GO 

3 



c 



- 
o 



cp >* a> 






S3 

> 

C 
c3 



3 
-2 



SNO W CB YSTALS. 167 

course of the first and second circuits (Fig. 19). 
You will observe that they repel each other near the 
centre of the diagram. The effect of this is the most 
important subject in science. From it arises the 
third circuit; the central piece in the crystals is the 
junctional effect of the forces at that place. As some 
of the crystals do not exhibit its effects you may be 
sure that some counterforce has been at work. There 
is a lesson in this which I leave to your own reflec- 
tion. 

" Heat and cold are among the first expressions 
of primary force. We 
know that they are vi- 



brations of the atmos- ..- ■>. *- - N 

phere or of an universal / \ 

ether. The former we \ / 

know something about, s -- S N^ ^/ 

the latter is only a sup- 
position and like the solar photosphere (invented by 
Schrceter), its existence may be more than doubted. 

"The atmosphere is composed of minute particles 
of matter ; we assume them to be endowed with mag- 
netism. Light and darkness being vibrations of these 
particles, the latter should in some way exhibit the 
impress of the forces involved in their existence. 
Place your pencil at the north pole of the diagram, 



168 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

Fig. 20. Look sharp now ! The color is there. 
The south pole answers, the north pole being in the 
same circuit and the color is violet. Bring your pen- 
cil down to the north magnetic parallel ; the south 
magnetic parallel responds and the color is blue; 
now touch the third circuit and you have the first 
life color, that of vegetation, green. Carry your 
pencil to the south magnetic parallel and again the 
north magnetic parallel answers, and the color is 

yellow; to the south 

Fig. 20. i j u • 

Tr . 7 . T ,. pole and we nave m- 

VioLet, Indigo. r 

digo ; back to the south 

/" \ mue > Yellow > 0range - magnetic parallel, or- 

j Green, Bed, an g e# ]VJ ow touch the 

\ ••'* Slue, Yellow, Orange, whispering place and 

you have the second 
Violet, Indigo. . 

life color, that of ani- 
mals, red. The forces involved can make no other 
changes of movement. 

" Noise and silence are also among the first ex- 
pressions of primary force ; place your pencil again 
at the north pole, Fig. 21. Sound it, and you will 
hear a full tone sweep from north to south through 
the first circuit. Bring your pencil down to the north 
magnetic parallel ; the second circuit responds 
throughout with its first full tone. Now touch the 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 169 

third circuit and note the sweetness of the semitone. 
To the south magnetic parallel for the second full 
tone of the second circuit. Now to the south pole for 
the second full tone of the first circuit ; return to the 
south magnetic parallel for the third full tone of the 
second circuit; now touch the third circuit, and 
again you have the semitone and the sound dies at 
the whispering place. Seven points ! The forces of 
the universe have responded to the 
force you have applied to its con- 
stituents. And since you were care- j 

ful the effect has been harmonious. \ 

) 3 7 

This is the ' music of the spheres.' / 

i I V .-• 4 6 

It was the morning stars that sang ^ * 

together when the earth started on 5 
its first orbital revolution. 

" Do you want a more tangible illustration ? strike 
a bar of steel with a hammer; note the vibrations as 
they proceed from both ends to the centre, then again 
to the ends and back to the centre, Fig. 22. This 
comprises all the different movements the bar can 
make. No matter how long it continues to vibrate, 
it comes to rest at its centre ; its lingering last throb 
is the seventh point. 

"This is somewhat the manner in which the watery 
globules vibrated in the example of heat and cold ; 



170 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

the centre piece of the crystals was the last expres- 
sion of force. So the atmospheric molecules vibrated 
in the example of light and darkness — and red was 
their last expression. So in sound the semitone 
finishes the scale. 

"To be more explicit, there are three circuits; 1 
2, 3. These numbers are subject to six permutations, 
and as they represent force, equilibrium is the seventh 
expresssion. 

" Although our last example fairly illustrates the 

permutation of the forces, 

l^Tfi- 22 

it is misleading in other 
respects. The bar is 
comparatively free at 
both ends, the atmos- 
pheric molecules are not, but are connected with each 
other by their first circuits of attractive force. When 
force is applied to the molecules it proceeds in polar 
directions until it is lost in the infinity of the first 
circuit; it also proceeds curvilineally outwardly until 
it is lost in the junction of the second and first cir- 
cuits. From which you will understand that the 
molecules when considered as forceful lines are fast 
at both ends. Of course, they drift hither and 
thither ; so may a magnetic needle be carried from 
place to place ; yet both the needle and the molecules 




SNOW CRYSTALS. 171 

are endeavoring to obey the forces within them, and 
these are continually contending with the forces 
around and about them. The earth and all the 
heavenly bodies are in the same condition ; they are 
all trembling under the power of the infinite conflict- 
ing forces ; they may never reach an equilibrial ad- 
justment. 

"The string of a musical instrument being fast at 
both ends is compelled to vibrate in precisely the 
same manner that the molecules vibrate. Therefore, 
a thrummed string strikes nature's forces in perfect 
accord. For this reason, stringed instruments send 
forth the sweetest sounds that primary force can pro- 
duce." Flex paused for a moment and I ventured 
to ask, "what is the shape of an atmospheric mole- 
cule?" 

" Molecules," he replied, "are simply little masses 
of matter more or less endowed with magnetic force. 
Atmospheric molecules are little masses of gaseous 
matter so endowed ; if it is one of these you have in 
mind, your question can be answered, but the answer 
may not be very satisfactory. On the other hand, if 
you have in contemplation an ' atom/ or some ulti- 
mate division of matter, I can only remind you that 
the universe itself is the only ultimate atom. 

" Every true philosophical concept has its counter- 



172 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

part in nature. The universe does not consist of an 
infinite series of causes and effects leading up to an 
ultimatum or down to an ultimatum. The idea that 
such is the case is in parity with the idea that there 
can be a highest and a lowest degree of temperature, 
the smallest fraction and the greatest whole number. 
The best conception of the universe is that which re- 
gards everything in nature as being at the same time 
both cause and effect ; vibration as the cause of tem- 
perature and temperature the cause of vibration. 
This is absolutely true as to all the primary forces 
and relatively true as to every permutation of them. 

"The best philosophical conception of God is that 
which regards Him as the life of the universe. The 
infinite, bodily, mental, and spiritual entirety. That 
which is infinite in unity must be infinite in divis- 
ibility ; therefore, an ' ultimate atom ' is an unphilo- 
sophical conception and cannot exist. 

"Our philosophy is unsatisfactory mainly because 
we refuse to accept the infinite in every branch of 
science except in mathematics and astronomy. We 
do not comprehend it in either of the branches men- 
tioned : we simply accept it as a true philosophical 
conception. 

"In physics we cannot comprehend a body of 
matter moving in opposite directions at the same time. 



SNO W CR YSTALS. 173 

Yet, we can comprehend a body of matter vibrating 
in opposite directions at the rate of a thousand times 
a minute. And we can and do conceive that there 
are vibrations of matter involved in the production, 
of light exceeding five hundred trillions a second.* 
We can as readily conceive them at the rate of a hun- 
dred thousand decillions a second. Admitting this, 
vibrations of infinite rapidity become a true philo- 
sophical conception, and the counterpart of this con- 
ception would be a body of matter moving in both 
directions at the same time. This is a conception of 
infinite rectilineal motion. I make these remarks be- 
cause your question leads us slightly into the domain 
of infinite dexterity. 

" Force exists in three primary expressions : attrac- 
tion, repulsion, and equilibrium. Matter exists in 
three primary shapes : the spherical, the spheroidal 
and the geometrical. Motion exists in three primary 
forms: the rectilineal, the elliptical, and the circular. 

" Magnetism furnishes an example of attraction 
and repulsion ; the air an example of universal equi- 
librium, inasmuch as it will not allow any portion of 
the universe to be emptied. Globules of water in 

* Fraunhofer estimates the rapid^ of light- vibrations as 
follows: For the middle violet, 733,000,000,000,000 per sec- 
ond ; for the middle red, 500,000,000,000,000, 



1 74 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

suspension are examples of the sphere; the earth and 
heavenly bodies are examples of the spheroidal shape. 
Earthy crystals, salt, alum, sulphur, etc., are exam- 
ples of the geometrical shape. 

" The rotation of the earth on its axis is an exam- 
ple of circular motion ; its orbital revolution an 
example of elliptical motion. 

" Now where is there an example in nature of 
rectilineal motion ? 

"Rectilineal motion is a true philosophical con- 
ception and therefore it exists somewhere in the uni- 
verse. Where f 

" There are no secrets in nature, no expression of 
force which we cannot experiment with ; no kind of 
matter except such as we have samples of, and no 
phenomena except such as are exhibited to us freely. 
AVe are not the victims of either fraud or deception. 
Broad daylight and fair play prevails here and else- 
where throughout the universe. Yet there are an 
infinite number of simple things which neither you 
or I understand, mainly because we refuse to accept 
the absolute, and demand reasons for things which 
are in their very nature self-evident. 

" Comparative rest and uniform temperature at a 
certain degree transform the simple and almost ho- 
mogeneous substance of an egg into a chick. We 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 175 

may learn how this takes place, but a comprehension 
of it is beyond our present attainments. 

"Scientifically considered, the force of attraction 
demands all material to aggregate into one central, 
motionless, ' cold black ball;' universal equilibrium 
compels it to accept an infinite number of aggrega- 
tions, hence the chief characteristics of the larger ag- 
gregations are rigidity, a spheroidal shape, rotation 
and exterior changes of magnetic presentation. 

"Repellant force alone would separate all material 
into one homogeneous entirety. Equilibrium com- 
pels it to accept an infinite number of gaseous mole- 
cules in such a condition as enables them to keep 
all space filled regardless of past, present, and future 
aggregation, hence the chief characteristics of gaseous 
molecules are elasticity, an accommodating shape, 
rapid internal changes of magnetic presen- 
tation and dexterity. 

" The shape of an atmospheric molecule, 

if one could be seen at rest, is nearly that . 

' J Molecule, 

of a short bee-cell, Fig. 23. It may be de- general 
scribed as a hexagonal cylinder terminating outlme - 
in an extended hexagonal frustum at one end, and a 
sunken impression of the same frustum at the other. 
They are of course, always in mass, and when masses 
of them are comparatively at rest they are telescoped 




176 



THE THREE CIECEITS. 



into each other in long files, so arranged that the 
north pole of every molecule in file is 
internally approaching the north pole of 
the molecule next north. We will call 
this position north check, Fig. 24. This 
is a like presentation and therefore a 
pedant one. The elasticity of the mole- 
cules enables them to respond, and the 
whole file immediately springs back in a 
right line to a reverse position, in which 
position all their south poles are presented 
to each other and again they execute the 
same movement. We will call the second 
position south chech. F _ 

•• When a file of molecules are at north 
check, there is an instantaneous spurt of 
material and force angularly outward 
toward the south molecular hinges or joints. 
When they are at south check this ac- 
tion is reversed, Big 26 As the reversals 
take place with inconceivable rapidity 
both actions may be regarded as taking 
place at the same moment. If the files 
South could be seen so rapidly vibrating north 
Check. an j south, they would appear as a combi- 
nation of both movements, Fig. 87, 



rv 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 



177 



Fig. 26. 



" The force so evolved cannot be received by the 
impinging files for they are in the same state. Hence 
each molecule is compelled to expand from its centre 
to its equatorial circumference and shrink from the 
latter to its centre in alternate correspondence to its 
polar action. 

" This gives to the molecules intermediately be- 
tween north and south 
check a more curvilineal 
appearance, and also causes 
a slight separation of them 
in file, Fig. 28. 

" Now as the position of 
the molecules is horizontal 
at the equator, and as they 
are in mass, their lateral 
vibrations strike the earth 
with rapid vertical pulsa- 
tions at the equator and in Instantaneous emissions of 
. force and matter when the re- 

a more angular manner as versals take place> 

the latitude increases north 

or south. We recognize these pulsations in the at- 
mosphere as light, and heat is evolved by the re- 
sistance they meet with at the surface of the earth. 
The intensity of solar heat depends entirely on the 
directness or indirectness of the molecular stroke. On 

12 





178 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



Fig. 27. 



a hot summer day near the equator these pulsations 
can be felt. 

"You will understand from the premises that the 
third circuit of magnetic force springs from a combi- 
nation or rather a contest of the first and second cir- 
cuits and that it manifests itself to us 
in natural phenomena. 

" Molecular vibrations (even when no 
light is produced) may be safely stated 
to be at the rate of one hundred trillion 
reversals a second. This is practically 
a continuous current of rectilineal force 
flowing north and south at the same 
time. This is the first circuit of mag- 
netic force. 

" There is also at the same time a 

Short file of continuous current of force springing 
molecules, in- ,. , . ,. . . 

ternal view ou twardly and inwardly at the moie- 

Kapid vibra- cular joints; (and of course a similar 
current at the magnetic poles of the 
earth?) This is the second circuit. The spherical 
expansion and contraction arising from the forces re- 
ferred to is the third circuit. 

" It is as you will realize the inconceivable ra- 
pidity of magnetic reversal that leads the telegraph 
operator to suppose that his messages pass to and fro 




SNOW CRYSTALS. 



179 



Fig. 28. 



at the same instant. Practically they do ; scientifi- 
cally they pass in one direction during one impulse, 
and in the other direction during the reversed im- 
pulse, though the word during hardly applies to pul- 
sations which occur in the one hundred trillionth 
part of a second. If we could see the molecules in 
mass as they appear in the atmosphere 
we would notice great masses of files 
drifting hither and thither. In some 
places coiling up and in other places un- 
folding, and at the same time shrinking 
and expanding longitudinally and later- 
ally like the movements of a caterpillar. 
Occasionally great numbers of detached 
ones would be seen skipping about with 
wonderful celerity and attaching them- 
selves to each other and to other files pre- 

m \ Short file of 

senting the appearance of some varieties molecules ex- 
of coral formation. This «»™-"'»"^ ^ ternal 




us appearance is, 



view. 



Slower vibra- 
however, as evanescent as a flash of t j on< 

lightning.* 

" During a thunder storm we would notice that 

the contraction of the files was increasing and the 

* When the air is disturbed by the voice of a fine singer 
its molecules frequently assume the form of plants, trees and 
flowers. 



180 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

molecules telescoping more closely into each other, 
some of them apparently swallowing whole files. 
Closely observing these we would perceive that they 
became larger and of firmer material and that this 
enabled them to usurp more room, and at the same 
time assume a more spherical shape, and presently 
we would see great numbers of them falling as drops 
of water, some of which would reach the earth while 
others would be absorbed by the files through which 
they descended. 

" Again if we could see a single molecule in per- 
spective, rapidly undergoing the transposition of 

its polar extremities its shape would 
Fig. 29. r r . 

be that of a hexagonal solid with 

eighteen facets. Of these six hex- 
agons form the equatorial belt. 
Twelve quadrangles, with their 
sharp angles focused at the poles 
and their broad ends fitting into the 
equatorial facets complete the figure. 

" To construct this figure ; plane a stick of wood 
until it has six equal sides, saw off a block in 
length equal to the greater diameter of the stick, 
then bevel the ends down at the corners to a point, 
preserving the hexagon facets all round the centre of 
the block. 




SNOW CRYSTALS. 



181 



Fig. 30. 



" So constructed the figure has twenty-six exterior 
angles, namely, two polar angles, and six upper, and 
six lower junctional angles located north and the 
same number south of its equator, Fig. 29. 

" The molecules themselves in mass have only 
twelve exterior angles and two interior angles. The 
others are the effect of inconceivable rapid vibration. 
It is not matter we are considering but force. Now 
since the atmosphere is the basis of all sound; we 
conclude that the twenty-six sounds represented by 
the English alphabet comprise every articulate 
sound the human voice can make, and 
that some of them are merely lin- 
gual luxuries. Again, calling your 
attention to the shape of the mole- 
cules when at check, we observe that 
it is only a little too much angularity 
that prevents them from being in the 
shape of a heart, and that their ac- 
tion is that of a great number of 
hearts acting in unison, Fig. 30. 
And at the same time we realize 
that each one of them is a separate 
individuality pulsating throughout 
its entire body, and sending both matter and force 
toward the molecular extremities and joints. 




Curvilineal view 
of molecules in file. 



182 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

"Accepting these analogies for what they seem to 
be worth, we have three primary expressions of force — 
attraction, repulsion, and equilibrium. Three pri- 
mary kinds of matter — atmospheric, aqueous, and 
solid. Three primary forms of motion — rectilineal, 
circular, and elliptical. Three primary kinds of life 
— molecular, vegetable, and animal. 

" Two currents of force can no more occupy the 

same body of matter at the same time, than can two 

bodies of matter occupy the same place at the same 

time, and yet in about one-half of 

." ' the snow crystals we see the force- 

,...--•''' I '*-••.., ;.. lines crossing each other in the centre 

j *"*--X-'*" °f * ne cr ystals at angles of sixty de- 

•j,--''' "\;-;- g rees > Fig. 31. This apparent con- 

\U''' tradiction of our conclusions arises 

from the fact that in the crystals we 

simply see the impress of the forces spread upon a 

plane, which is not at all the form in which they 

occupied the globules of water; nor the form in 

which they occupy the earth.* 

* When the earth was a molecule, its "true magnetic 
poles ' ' (like those of the snow crystals) were located thirty 
degrees from its equator. That they are now near the six- 
tieth degrees of north and south latitude is due to the in- 
equality in the size of the earth and sun. 




SNOW CRYSTALS. 183 

" If we take one of these crystals and cause it to 
rotate on its centre, we shall have a polar projection 
of magnetic force, Fig. 32 ; the same view may also 
be obtained by looking at the end of a bar-magnet 
with iron filings attached (see Fig. 
6). The centre of the crystal is of 
course at rest. 

"About one-half of the crystals 
exhibit an open centre expanded 
into hexagons, Fig. 33. If we 
assume two opposite points ot this 
crystal to be its poles, and then conceive the whole 
figure rotating on the polar axis we have selected, 
the figure so produced will be a sphere, Fig. 34, and 
we realize that the centre of it is at rest, or in equi- 
librium, and that all the matter com- _ 

Fig. 33, 

posing it is being thrown towards its -*-; 

surface. This ideal figure may also 4/ X. "x& 
be obtained by conceiving a bar- • j i I 
magnet with iron filings surrounding ;}£[ **r' .l-T- 
it, the whole in absolute equilibrium >!< 

(see Fig. 5). 

"This peculiar and almost indescribable motion is 
the effect of all the forces combined. It is in the 
nature of a curvilineal adjustment of two rectilineal 
forces acting in different directions in the same body 



viWi 




184 TEE THREE CIRCUITS. 

of matter. In short, it is an alternate spherical ex- 
pansion and contraction within bodies of matter con- 
F 34 trolled by the magnetic forces on 

v-:.v. •&.: their surface. We recognize it as 

:^bS$k M0^}; heat and cold, i.e., temperature. 

''Temperature is the first sen- 
sate phenomenon. The third ex- 
pression of force. Its tendency 

Central Section of is to exclude all other expres- 

Sphere in plane. . n P n , , . , 

sions ot force from the interior 

of all bodies of matter." 

Here Flex paused a moment and addressing me 
more directly said : 

"You are becoming too sleepy to understand the 
facts I am presenting. If you will rouse yourself 
for a short time, I will explain an interesting theory 
or rather an hypothesis which may be called, molecu- 
lar incubation. Leaving out all the details it may 
be briefly stated as follows : 

"A globule of water in suspension contains every 
elemental ingredient found in the earth or around 
the earth. At the moment it assumes the spherical 
shape, its centre is at thirty-two degrees of tempera- 
ture, Fahrenheit. During this moment the earthy 
matter in the globule radiates from its centre toward 
its circumference as if the laws of gravitation were 



8N0 W CR YSTALS. 1 8 5 

reversed, and the earthy matter near its surface sinks 
inwardly as if the globule were a miniature world. 
The earth at some period of time became an aggrega- 
tion of these drops of water. As accumulation pro- 
ceeded the earthy matter in the water radiated out- 
wardly from the centre of the earth and inwardly 
from its surface^ forming an intermediate crust of 
solid matter surrounding its equatorial zone, and ex- 
tending towards its magnetic poles. The polar core 
was filled with water at all times, and served as an 
escape for the accumulating gases. 

" As the earth increased in size its sedi mental 
crust expanded, leaving a large body of water in the 
interior, the water changing into deep warm mud 
at the interior surface. From time to time this in- 
terior world became more and more separated from 
every kind of phenomena except darkness, tempera- 
ture, and perhaps slight magnetic disturbances. The 
forces of expansion and contraction meeting each 
other at the centre of the crust caused heat in that 
locality, and this divided the interior surface of the 
crust into zones with warm water and mud near the 
equator, and cooler water and mud near the mag- 
netic poles. But these extremes were very slight. 

" Here in the interior of the earth, in darkness, 
silence, and rest, molecular life (or activity which- 



186 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

ever you please to call it) developed and differenti- 
ated into two principal classes of higher life, both 
wholly unlike anything on the outside of the earth. 

"For convenience we will call these classes polar 
and central. 

" The polar class were subjected to six months 
more or les*s in which it was quite cool, and during 
such times many of them dissipated into air, earth, 
and water. The air so disengaged went toward the 
polar core and ultimately became free on the outside 
of the earth. The earthy matter became part of the 
muddy mass, thereby increasing the thickness of the 
crust. In time this process of disintegration broke 
up the molecular files into fragments consisting of 
single molecules, double molecules, and short and 
long lengths. During the six months in which it 
was cooler, all of these varieties would shrink in at 
their polar extremities and become more compact and 
globular in their appearance. At such times there 
was very little if any perceptible difference between 
the varieties referred to. All of them were simply 
little hard compact balls with the molecular life 
principle lying dormant in the centre. During the 
warmer six months they would all open slightly at 
their poles and increase slightly in size, and a subtile 
essence would exude from their poles and from their 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 187 

molecular joints. But as the single molecules had 
no such joints, they would collapse when the cooler 
period began, and open somewhat in the manner of 
an oyster when the warmth returned. For untold 
ages this went on until each of these varieties were 
nothing but infinitesimal seeds of molecular life. So 
far as eyes could see an homogeneous mass of black 
mud. Now leaving this class for the present. 

" The central class meanwhile differentiated on en- 
tirely different lines. They also kept telescoping into 
each other in file, and becoming from century to cen- 
tury more and more expanded. Those in favored 
localities, such as proximity to the equator and the 
deeper and warmer places, grew larger than the 
others, and their valvular action became more ex- 
panded and at the same time less rapid. As the files 
expanded and contracted there was constantly emitted 
from the molecular joints the same essence emitted 
by the class first referred to but in much greater 
quantities. In time, this exudation combined with 
mineral substances in solution, encrusted the molecu- 
lar joints. In the various limestone regions this 
took place fast, causing imperfect valvular action, and 
a supension of all action throughout many large 
regions. In such places there were hundreds of 
cubic miles of imperfect shells left telescoped together. 



183 



THE THREE CTECUITS. 



'•' So incrustation and want of uniformity in size 
ultimately broke up the files into singles, doubles, 
and short and long lengths. 

'•'Molecular action in the longer files tended 
toward the ends. As the intermediate action became 
more and more imperfect, both end- - - 

shaped and still kept on expanding and contracting; 
after while these would part and form two short files, 
and then the dead ends of each file would slough off 
leaving broad terminations. 

•• Sometimes the short files developed superior and 

inferior terminations 
Fig. 3-5. OE 

:n rue start, r lg. 60. 

Other files seemed un- 
able to determine which 
should be their principal 
and which their subsidi- 
ary end. consequently they made little or no develop- 
er at either extremity, but in lieu thereof threw 
out extensions all along their sides at the molecular 
joints, and these moved backward and forward in 
correspondence to a very weak and slow internal pal- 
pitation. Fig. 36. 

" Double molecules maintained valvular action at 
both ends, at the same time opening and closing at 
their joints. Their action was weak from the start, 




Valvular Development. 



SNO W CB YSTAL8. 1 8 9 

and they soon became encrusted at their ends, leaving 

them only an opening at 

a. • • i. rru- 4.- Fig. 36. 

the joint, lhis action ^-^^^^^^^^ 

soon developed a hinge ^^^A^AVaaXN/' 
on the opposite side. ^ , . _ , 

rr Fedal Development. 

They then threw out 

siphon-like extensions and this completed their de- 
velopment. 

" Single molecules could at first only palpitate 
back and forth in the soft warm mud. Later some 
of them attached themselves to the ground by suc- 
tion, and as they became encrusted developed holes 
in their upper surfaces. Others collapsed, assuming 
the general form of double molecules with a back 
hinge, but they were not able to project any exten- 
sions from the opening so formed. 

" About this time the earth which had been all the 
while subject to occasional disturbances which could 
be felt on both its inner and outer surfaces, opened 
near one of its magnetic poles, and there issued a 
very large volume of warm water and black mud 
containing all the germs of life. The polar class 
buried in the low-lands of the earth found conditions 
not far removed from what they had been subjected 
to, and in the returning spring they expanded slightly 
at their poles and the subtile essence of molecular 



190 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

life took root at one end and sprang upward at the 
other, and the warm moist ground nourished the 
roots of them and the bright light kissed the tops of 
them, and shortly thereafter the earth 'stood dressed 
in living green/ The central class perished imme- 
diately, the principal cause being want of proper 
aliment. After this the devolopment of molecular 
life inside the earth proceeded as before. 

" Many centuries thereafter the earth opened again 
and emitted another great flood of life surpassing in 
volume and variety anything we can conceive. At 
this time the best developed but not the most perfect 
organizations of the central class survived and filled 
all the waters of the earth with fish. And again, the 
polar class took root and grew. And molecular de- 
velopment inside the earth proceeded as before. 
Then after ages had elapsed the earth opened the 
third time. This time a bountiful supply of all 
classes and varieties survived. Yet the earth was 
almost covered and the seas almost filled with the 
shells and bones of the dead. 

"Analogies supporting this theory may be found 
in the shape of the flower-buds and fruits of vegeta- 
tion, particularly in that of seeds and nuts, the ker- 
nels of which are almost invariably composed of two 
lobes, which is an evidence of their molecular origin. 




SNOW CRYSTALS. 191 

They may also be found in the animal kingdom be- 
ginning with the earliest forms of organized life, the 
fossil remains of which are found in 
the rocks, Fig. 37. Sometimes clus- 
ters of crinoids so closely resemble the 
foliage of plants and trees that it is 
nearly or quite impossible to deter- 
mine whether* they were a vegetable or 

an animal organization. Indeed, there 

v . v v i , , ii Silurian Blas- 

is no dividing line between vegetable ♦ "1* 

life and animal life. Neither is there a 

dividing line between vegetable life and molecular 

* This species of animal life began its existence in the 
upper Silurian and culminated in the Carboniferous age. 
When closed as they are in the fossil state they look like 
flower-buds, many varieties of which they also resemble in 
that they are composed of five petal-like ambulacra. Their 
general appearance is much like one of the shapes assumed 
by molecules, yet there is a great difference ; molecules are 
hexagonal, blastoids are pentagonal. This similarity and 
want of similarity is another variation of the old puzzle. 
When we contemplate mankind as having descended from 
some inferior race of animals, the question arises, what has 
become of the tail ? So in contemplating blastoids and flower- 
buds as having descended from molecules, the same question 
meets us at the threshold, what has become of the sixth ex- 
pression of force f 



192 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

life. The higher and lower forms invariably blend 
into each other like the colors of a rainbow. 

" Suggestions of molecular aggregation are appa- 
rent in all the insects. We can almost count the 
number of molecules composing them. The sections 
in their larvse can be counted. Their eyes, too, are 
frequently a collection of hexagonal facets, a wonder- 
ful exhibition of molecular persistence and ade- 
quacy. 

" That many insects are but little advanced beyond 
the molecular condition is manifested by the dexterity 
of their movements, and also by their comparative 
exemption from pain. Flies that have lost a leg 
seem but little if any the worse off, and wasps that 

4 

have been cut in halves will eat the severed part of 
their own bodies. 

" In the higher animals, departures from original 
forms are very wide, yet their anatomies and particu- 
larly their spines denote a compilation of molecules. 
The animal heart is a curvilineal fleshy development 
of the molecule, its action is precisely the same, the 
vital fluid proceeds from it and returns to it in the 
same general directions. In short the difference be- 
tween them, amounts to about this, the rapid vibra- 
tion of the molecule has given place to the slow and 
orderly palpitation of the heart. 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 193 

"We are apt to think that all things were instan- 
taneously created by the voice of Omnipotence, but 
that is not God's way, at least not his way on this 
earth. It takes several weeks for an egg to hatch. 
So it requires nine months time in comparative quiet- 
ness, darkness, and an equable temperature, and then 
a child is born. These are the works of Omnipotence ! 
Natural events! because we see them daily. So it 
required ages within the bowels of the earth, and 
then at the appointed times there came forth the 
handiwork of Omnipotence. We were not present 
when the earth was delivered, but to those who were 
it was a natural event ! which for a long time had 
been expected. 

" Of course all this begins and ends in theory, 
yet the analogies are sufficient to render it probable 
that God in the manner indicated, furnished the 
earth with every incipient form of life. And we 
may conclude that no creature emitted from the 
bowels of the earth possessed any sense except that 
of feeling, yet feeling implies ease and pain, sexual 
relationship, reproduction, and death. 

"Now returning to the main subject which is one 
of more importance since it leads to an understand- 
ing of what is to take place in the future, I will offer 
you one more example of primary phenomena, 

13 



194 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



" Our senses being complemental to the move- 
ments of primary 



Fig. 38. 
Feeling, Hearing. 

r 

! yS -.. Tasting, Smelling, Seeing. 

] Instinct, Reason. 

V / 

\. ..-••*' Tasting, Smelling, Seeing. 



force, they are of 
course arranged in 
the same order." 

The clock struck 
twelve. I answered 
it dreamily, " seven 
points !" 

" It is the Sabbath day," said Flex. 
"The forces we have been considering have in- 
variably rested at their seventh expression. Let us 
recognize the importance of the fact and at the same 
time obey the commandment of our Creator." 



Feeling, Hearing. 



THE BEST E V1DENCE. 195 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE BEST EVIDENCE. 

Last Saturday night we undertook an examina- 
tion of primary force, but owing to human frailty we 
drifted into snow and out of that into music and 
color, and some of the very smallest things and then 
sleep and Sunday morning overcame us and so very 
little of importance was accomplished. 

But to-night we intend to keep awake and notice 
a few things which have the impress of the forces 
plainly stamped upon them, and by analogy endeavor 
to demonstrate the fact that there is more than an 
accidental correlation between the smallest things and 
the greatest results. 

But before proceeding with the subject I will tell 
you what I dreamed the night we labored among the 
crystals. Not that I attach much importance to 
dreams, but because mine was an odd one, and so far 
I have not found any person able to interpret it. 

It seemed to me that Flex and I were on the sum- 
mit of Pike's Peak and that he was provided with a 
very fine telescope with which he was surveying the 



196 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

heavens ; I thought it was in the night and yet I 
could see the country on every side. Eastward the 
City of Colorado Springs lay not very far away, be- 
yond it the " plains " extended for miles an unbroken 
prairie without anything in sight, except the smoke 
of many railroad trains passing to and from the cities 
of Denver and Pueblo. Southward, nearly one hun- 
dred miles off, the Spanish peaks shone like shafts of 
polished marble. West of these the Greenhorn range 
joined the Sangre de Christo and the serrated back- 
bone of the latter faded out of sight in the direction 
of Mexico. At our feet snugly nestled in the lee of 
Cameron's Cone the little village of Manitou shone as 
bright as if it were already Sunday morning. All at 
once it occurred to me that these things could not be 
seen in the night, and then looking upward I saw 
seven suns shining in the heavens; six of them were 
arranged in a circle around the seventh, which out- 
shone the others more than a thousand times. It 
was a splendid array and I said : 

"Flex, what constellation is now in sight ?" 
" It is the heavenly galaxy," he replied ; " the cen- 
tral orb is Salem ; the others are the primary planets 
that revolve around it; our sun is one of them; 
would you like to examine them ? " he added, hand- 
ing me the telescope. 



the best e vidence. 197 

Never again shall I see such a change as took 
place when I looked through that instrument. The 
great central orb and the suns surrounding it had 
lost their brilliancy, yet their beauty had increased 
more than a hundred fold. Each member of the 
galaxy was provided with a system of planets, the 
axes of the former standing nearly parallel to those 
of the latter. 

Some of the planets were at perihelion and some at 
aphelion, and hence they extended outwardly in a 
curved line from the equators of their respective suns 
like balls of burnished silver strung on a segment. 

" Look at Salem/' said Flex. 

At this time Salem filled the whole firmament, and 
we were apparently drawing nearer and nearer to it. 
My enthusiasm ran high ; I said to myself, " only 
one more stretch of power and I shall see its towers, 
and battlements, perhaps the pearly gates." Its beauty 
went beyond all description ; as it drew still nearer 
I saw a rainbow spring from its north pole and cir- 
cling over and beyond the galaxy, it seemingly in- 
closed an area greater than the universe, and then 
completing the circle at Salem's south pole it stood 
there a circumambient flood of glory. 

In following the course of the bow I thought I 
noticed Saturn apparently very close to the sun, and 



198 TEE THREE CERCTITS. 

I wa? about to remark : when Flex spoke more per- 
emptorily than I had ever heard him. 

''Keep your eyes on Salem." 

Then I noticed a movement high up in the bow; 
apparently a glitter of working tools, and I imag- 
ined that I could distinguish the outlines of several 
persons, but they were so much within the body of 
the bow I could not determine what they were doing, 
yet I thought they were pitching a tent. Presently 
one of them came to the inner brink, and stood there 
plainly in sight. He was apparently a master 
workman clothed in shining garments : I saw him 
turn and look toward Salem. Oh, such a loving 
look. Then he scanned the bow upward and down- 
ward, at the same time smiling confidently, I thought 
almost contemptuously. Then standing erect he cast 
a plumb-line and the lead ran out for a thousand 
years swifter than a ray of light. And when he had 
calculated his countenance fell, and I heard one ask, 
" What is the measure of the arc thereof? " And the 
workman answered, " I cannot tell ; the line is too 
short ; the segment yields no sine.'"' 

I was very greatly astonished and I said : 

u Flex, who are these people and what are they 
doing '? " 

" They are -ome of the inhabitants of Salem," he 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 199 

replied, " out on a holiday, and one of them has 
undertaken to measure its first circuit and he has 
failed." 

" Who is he that cast the line and made the cal- 
culation ?" 

" That is Hiram," he answered, " Grand master of 
the workmen who builded the Temple at Jerusalem." 

I was more than ever astonished and I said, " Is 
Salem's first circuit infinite ?" 

He hesitated a moment and then replied : 

"It is infinite in the sense in which the earth's is 
infinite, but the grand master was not trying to meas- 
ure the infinite expression but the circuit which you 
saw." 

Then as we drew nearer and nearer we heard one 
of them praying in a very low beseeching voice, 
almost a whisper: "Dear Lord send them a philoso- 
pher ; Endow him with wisdom and special powers of 
discernment ; Furnish him with all the knowledge of 
the past and a large intuition of that which is to come ; 
Give him a diamond pen ; and when he comes to write 
commission him as thy servant, so that he may with 
one stroke forever finish the career of the fiery hypothe- 
sis." Flex and I added "Amen." 

Then the galaxy commenced to swing, not in pro- 
cession but all together in sweeping grandeur, with 



200 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

their planets moving in course, and all their comets 
blazing in their orbits. My enthusiasm would be 
repressed no longer ; I said : * 

" Flex, I have given up all idea of making my 
home in the sun. My very eyes have seen the New 
Jerusalem ! I want to live in Salem." 

" It is the city of our God ; " said he ; " I thought 
that sometime you would fall in love with it. Maybe 
it will please you now to hear a description of it in 
the quaint words of an old author who also saw it 
many years ago. 

" Hierusaleni my happy home, 
When shall T come to thee ? 
When shall my sorrows have an end, 
Thy joyes when shall I see ? 

" Noe dampish mist is seen in thee, 
Noe cold nor darksome night ; 
There everie soule shines as the sunne, 
There G-od himselfe gives light. 

"Thy walks are made of precious stones, 
Thy bulwarks diamonds square ; 
Thy gates are of right orient pearle, 
Exceeding rich and rare. 

" Thy turrettes and thy pinnacles 
With carbuncles doe shine ; 
Thy verrie streets are paved with gould, 
Surpassing cleare and line. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 201 

"Thy houses are of yvorie, 
Thy windows crystals cleare ; 
Thy tyles are made of beaten gould, 
God ! that T were there. 

1 "Our sweete is mixt with bitter gaule, 
Our pleasure is but paine ; 
Our joyes scarce last the looking on » 

Our sorrows still remain. 

" But there they live in such delight, 
Such pleasure and such play ; 
As that to them a thousand years 
Doth seem as yesterday. 

"Thy gardens and thy gallant walks 
Continually are greene ; 
There grow such sweets and pleasant flowers 
As nowhere else are seene. 

"There trees forevermore beare fruit 
And evermore doe springe ; 
There evermore the angels sit. 
And evermore doe singe. 

" Hierusalem my happy home ! 
Would Grod I were in thee ! 
Would Grod my woes were at an end, 
Thy joyes that I might see. ' ' 

My eyes were filled with tears. 
After awhile I said : " Do you know the names of 
the sans that compose the galaxy?" 



202 



THE THREE CIRCUITS. 



" I have never heard any names for them/' he re- 
plied, "except those derived from the Latin numerals. 
Beginning with the one north of our sun, they are 
Unis, Duos, Trex, Quarto, Quinto ; — Sun. You 
will notice," he added, " that as these suns move for- 
ward in their orbital revolutions, their planets are 
also carried forward with them so that the planetary 
orbits are not in the same place this year that they 

were in last year. Hence, 
if you make a chart of alt 
the orbital revolutions 
made by the earth dur- 
ing the period of the 
sun's revolution around 
Salem, you will ha^e a 
series of ellipses clipping 
into each other all the 
way around very much 
like a piece of geometric lathe work," Fig. 39. 

" Do you know the period of their revolution ?" I 
asked. 

"It is coincident with the precession of the equi- 
noxes," he replied, " 25,868 years." 

Then the vision faded away, and with it the moun- 
tain, and we were again sitting in the library and I 
said : " Flex, there are many things about which I 




TEE BEST EVIDENCE. 203 

am greatly puzzled. I would like to know why 
some of the snow crystals do not conform to the gen- 
eral plan." 

" You are laboring under a mistake," he replied. 
" You still keep thinking that earth, air, and water, 
are so essentially different from each other, that they 
may be entirely separated. You forget that a part 
of that which is air to-day may be water to-morrow, 
or indeed within a few minutes — and that a sediment 
will begin to settle as soon as the water is formed. 
When we see a mist rising from a pond, it is not 
merely vaporized water that is rising but air, earth, 
and water, and these quite frequently incorporated 
with noxious gases, and the bodies of living animal- 
cules." 

" And I also want to know why bees construct 
their cells so nearly in the shape of the molecules 
composing the air ?" 

There was no answer, and so without knowing how 
or why, I began to think about bees. 

Dr. Watts says : 

' ' How doth the little busy bee 
Improve each shining hour ; 
And gather honey all the day 
From every opening flower. ' ' 

That is very prettily said, but there are some things 



204 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

about a bee more wonderful than his industrious 
habits or his honey. When he is abroad in the shin- 
ing hours he is a laborer ; when he is in his dark 
home he is an architect busily engaged in making 
cells, a great number of which are necessary to meet 
the requirements of his household. Now this little 
architect, in the dark and without any instruments 
to measure angles, constructs these cells by hundreds 
of thousands, all of them perfectly regular in size, 
form and arrangement. Their shape is that of a 
hexagon — that is to say a geometrical figure with six 
equal sides and hence six equal angles. It is demon- 
strated in the science of mathematics that this figure 
will fill any given space without interstitial loss of 
room. 

In order that the cells may be conveniently ar- 
ranged and ventilated to meet his physical needs, he 
attaches them to a partition. In doing this he uses 
two angles, one of 70° 30' and another of 109° 28'. 
These angles are also the most economical that can be 
used in such work. Having made these cells he 
stores them with honey and other things, his pre- 
cious property. From all of which it is obvious 
that he is a laborer, an architect and a political econo- 
mist. These three qualities are enough to make any 
one worthy of great respect. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 205 

Now let us remember that his cells, like the snow 
crystals, have six points, and therefore every one of 
them is a picture of the magnetic force-lines found in 
the earth. 

But here comes the architect; note him carefully! 
He plunges into the centre of one of the hexagons, 
and there with all his senses right at the whispering 
place, he is engaged in life work the sweetness of 
which fills the air all around. He is a masterpiece 
of workmanship worthy to be counted. He is the sev- 
enth 'point. On the other side of the partition there 
is an architect facing him but he knows nothing 
about that. The physical third circuit, life, is in their 
bodies. The mental third circuit is in their Creator. 

Their big relative, the humble bee is the victim of 
a misnomer, besides being otherwise a very badly 
used personage. His name is Bumble bee. Nobody 
thinks of calling him anything else, except people 
who write books. He is a gentleman, almost too 
proud to work; I have known him ever since I was 
a child. Some years ago, he created such a stir among 
my associates that I was introduced to him more times 
than I cared to be. Such introductions are not par- 
ticularly agreeable when 'insisted on from time to 
time. However, I have partaken of his hospitality 
and felt the warm shake of his I came very 



206 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

Dearly saying hand. I know his reputation to be 
good ; so good that among the boys he needs no other 
defence than such as he is able to make for himself. 
I would not mention this were it not for the fact that 
I lately saw the following insinuation in one of the 
serials, perhaps the St. Nicholas. 

" Says the wicked flea to the bumble bee 
You're a fat old meddling thing ; 
And if you will fight with me to-night, 
Two pistols I will bring." 

That challenge is an insult to a bumble bee. It 
must have been written by a girl ; no one who has 
ever crossed swords " for keeps " with a bumble bee 
would think of such a proposition. The bumble bee 
is not a coward nor a duellist, but a soldier and a 
terror. In the day of battle his courage is boundless. 
Like a furious Berserker,* sword in hand, or in tail, 

* "A class of combatants among the early Norse people 
whose love of fighting led them to a fury of madness. They 
were so wild that chains could hardly restrain them. Friend 
or foe, bare breast or buckler, stick or stone, dead or living, 
all were the same to the Berserker when the fit was on, and 
he wandered aimlessly forth running an Indian muck at all 
he met. In later times the title was given to a company of 
hard fighters who were retained as body guards or special 
champions of renowned leaders. These periodical fits were 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 207 

if you please, he rushes to the front and fights and 
fights and stings and stings ; and dies a hero in de- 
fence of his home and property. 

How many times we boys have been vanquished 5 
how many times we have fled pell-mell from the field 
in utter dismay. Sometimes we were victorious, but 
not until the last defender was slain. Then we hud- 
dled around his demolished fortress and divided the 
spoils. There never was more than a cent's worth of 
honey all told, and the smallest boy usually got about 
a half cell of dirty looking yellowish gum, and with 
that he smacked his lips and was happier than any 
of us. I have not tasted bumble bee honey for more 
than forty years, but I am inclined to think that the 
idea of its excellency is a mere boyish fancy. 

Now with these dead warriors lying all over the 
field, it is well to remember that every one of them 
was born in a somewhat slovenly constructed six- 
pointed cell, and that the same is true as to all their 

called the 'Berserk's course' when under his mad influence 
the Berserker was a raging wolf to his friends and an armed 
maniac to his enemies. In the Yulinga saga we read, ' But 
his (Odin's) men rushed forward without mail, and were as 
mad as dogs and wolves, and bit on their shields and were as 
strong as bears and bulls. Men slew they and neither fire 
nor iron laid hold upon them.' " 



208 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

forefathers, and although adverse circumstances have 
compelled them to follow the military profession, yet 
they also " improve the shining hours." 

If we had leisure to examine the latest work on 
distant relationship, we would probably learn that 
honey bees and bumble bees are simply an example of 
abstemiousness in one case, and voracity in the other. 
No doubt a quotation from such a work would read 
about as follows : " Some very remote ancestor of the 
present bumble bee race happened to be unable or 
unwilling to control his appetite, and so got fatter 
and fatter, and at the same time more and more furi- 
ous (which is not usually the case), and these charac- 
teristics transmitted in the descendant line through 
many generations caused the bee family to differenti- 
ate into two permanent types, the one a useful branch 
of society, the other such as has been described." Now 
in behalf of the bumble bee I ask permission to file 
his general denial, together with a true statement of 
his character. Nevertheless, if the aforesaid hypothe- 
sis can be reasonably applied to the whole animal 
creation, I will confess judgment for the bumble bee. 
But if he is to be made an exception, then I am re- 
tained and I will demand a jury trial. 

Then I took up the three sections of the apple, and 
joining them together, I said to myself, " these pieces 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 209 

fit into each other like the joints in the backbone of 
an animal. More like that of a fish than that of a 
land animal. The middle section is almost perfect. 
The others rudimentary. Can it be possible that the 
vertebral bones of an animal took shape in some way 
similar to the manner in which the earth was con- 
structed ? Has magnetic force been tampering with 
the spinal column of an animal ? Can I afford to 
admit that a living creature may be the effect of a 
physical force ? If I do I am lost ! What answer 
can I make when arraigned for my presumptuous 
temerity if I should be mistaken ? I fitted the pieces 
together and nervously took them apart again. I 
was wide awake ; no doubt of that, and therefore not 
to be excused as I might hope to be for the other 
night's work. What answer can I make f 

Then I looked again at the magnetic frame, Fig. 
16. "These lines/' I said, "are the very lines on 
which the earth was built. I carved the apple with 
reference to nothing whatever except the magnetic 
forces, and these are the pieces. He who made the 
earth made the animals on the earth and in the water, 
and if I have any right to inquire how he made one 
of these things, I have the same right to inquire how 
he made the others." 

There was a small shriveled lemon on the table. 

14 



210 



TEE THREE CIRCUITS. 



Fig. 40. 



" I will put you to a good use/' I said, and suiting 
the action to the words, I scored a line around it in 
the neighborhood of its arctic circle, another at its 
antarctic, then an ellipse on its surface to represent 
about the depth the second circuit enters the earth, 
that is to the fire-line. Then taking short pieces of 
lead pencils, I stuck one into its north pole, and one 
that had been sharpened at both ends into its south 
pole. And one at each side of its arctic and antarctic 
circles. Then setting it on the table I said to it : 
" Once you were a lemon and as 
such you were of little consequence. 
Xow you are a turtle and still you 
are a failure. But as an illustra- 
tion of the magnetic forces, you are 
a success. Your head is not by any 
means equal to a problem in Euclid, 
but it is the best one you ever had. 
It is the place where the first circuit of magnetic force 
entered your body, and whatever intellect you have is 
due to that fact. Your head counts for one, Fi^. 40. 
" Your tail seems to be nothing more than an artistic 
development ; that is the place where the first circuit 
left you, which was a very unfortunate circumstance, 
for had it remained with you, you might at this mo- 
ment be discussing the matter with me. 




THE BEST E VIDENCE. 211 

"Your fore and hind legs were developed by the 
force of the second circuit. They are in fact your 
northern and southern aurorce. The only trouble 
with you is that when the first circuit left you, your 
development ceased. If I knew for what cause it 
left you, I would tell you, but I do not. However, 
I have the honor to inform you that you score six 
points, and if you were a living specimen that fact 
would make seven. And now since I have spoken 
rather disparagingly of your tail, I will also inform 
you that the antarctic regions of your great proto- 
type, the earth, are in about the same lamentable 
condition.* I hope both of you will come out all 
right." 

Another look at the diagram, Fig. 16, carried my 

* "The two polar regions differ greatly. The seas of the 
arctic teem with animal life. Land animals, such as the 
bear, wolf, reindeer, musk-ox, and arctic fox, are scattered 
over the frozen surface of the land where they find the means 
of sustenance. The air is peopled with innumerable flocks 
of birds, a hardy vegetation extends close up to the arctic 
circle and beyond it, mosses, lichens, scurvy grass, sorrel, 
small stunted shrubs, dwarfed trees, and in summer beauti- 
ful flowers. In the antarctic, on the contrary, vegetation 
ceases at a certain limit, trees terminating at about 56° S. 
latitude. Animal life abounds in the seas, but though birds 
exist in great numbers and in varieties unknown in the 



212 THE THREE CIRCUIT?. 

thoughts back to Pennsylvania, as it was more than 
forty years ago. I remembered the condition of its 
wood-land counties at that time; the slaughter of 
the wild animals, large and small, and this brought 
to my mind the shapes of every variety of hides and 
pelts, which were then nailed to the barn doors. 
"Here," I said, "is the sum of the whole matter; 
every creature of the higher order has been formed on 
the same general plan, and mankind may have been 
included." 

Then there arose a great clamor of voices and wide- 
spread indignation prevailed. Every voice seemed 
filled with a full circuit of wrath as it fiercely de- 
manded : " Will you dare to apply your sacrilegious 
philosophy to the body of a living manf" 

I answered firmlv, " I intend to do it. I have been 
commissioned to inquire into this matter. As prose- 
cuting attorney for the Commonwealth, I brought a 
turtle to the bar and made him answer for his points. 
I will not be a respecter of persons. Nevertheless, in 
deference to public opinion, I will not press this 

arctic, no quadrupeds are found upon the land." — Johnson's 
Cyclopaedia, article Polar Research. 

Sir Joseph Hooker says : " Geographically speaking there 
is no antarctic flora except a few lichens and sea- weeds." 
— Nature, London, 1881, p. 447. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 213 

prosecution further than one example. But whether 
he be a king or a philosopher, he shall come into 
court and answer as to the points of his entrance. 
Mr. Sheriff, bring in a man." 

There was a bustle in court. A couple of impor- 
tant looking personages seemed just then to have 
urgent business with the sheriff. Presently a young 
man about twenty-five years of age took his place on 
the stand. Waiting a moment for his embarrassment 
to subside, I said : " What is your name ?" 

"Aw weally I" he replied, " Dontcher know 
Chawles Augustus Sidney Algernon — aw — De 
Smith ?" I was provoked and I said with some 
severity : 

" State to the jury ; are you a citizen of the United 
States?" 

" Aw weally !" 

" Answer the question ; do you vote ?" 

" My deah boy ! Dontcher know — aw — fellah 
cawnt mingle with the — aw — beastly men V 

"Who created you?" I demanded more fiercely 
than such a question should be. " Answer promptly 
or I will speak to the judge and he will commit 
you." 

" Aw weally ! Oi used to think that, dontcher 
know — aw God, beg pawdon, had a hawnd in it, but 



214 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

of late years — weally, bah jove oi have some 
doubts." 

One of the jurymen winced and I looked toward 
the bench, but the judge was apparently asleep. 
"You may take the witness/' I said. 

Then opposing counsel bade the witness "stand 
aside," and turning to me said : " We will offer no 
testimony in this case but rely wholly on the record." 

Then I realized that the case was desperate, yet I 
replied : " The State will waive the opening, you may 
go to the jury." 

Then senior counsel for the defense rose and ad- 
dressing the court and jury said : "The issues to be 
tried in this case may be briefly stated as follows: 
Was man created by the same physical force that 
created the beasts ? Was physical force involved in 
the creation of either ? Does man bear the impress 
of magnetic force on his person ? The last inquiry 
is in the nature of testimony, but we deny that such 
testimony exists, and hence, its existence or non ex- 
istence forms one of the issues in the case. 

"In order that you may have a complete under- 
standing of the various matters to be tried, we will 
first state the theory of the plaintiff. 

" He maintains that there are three circuits of 
magnetic force. That they are life circuits. That 



THE BEST E VIDENCE. 215 

they have existed in all past time, and will continue 
to exist during an endless future. That the first 
circuit enters the body of every creature, from the 
least insect to the largest beast. That the force of 
the second circuit adds to this life the capacity for 
physical development. That the third circuit is in 
some way connected or correlated with immortality, 
but in what manner is not clearly set forth in his 
pleadings. That owing to malformation or some 
other cause (here again he is very vague), the third 
circuit never enters the body of any creature except a 
man. And notwithstanding this admission which we 
think is clearly contradictory to his own theory, he 
urges that man bears the very stamp of his conjec- 
tured dynamics. 

"He will endeavor to make you believe that the 
molecules of the air and water are imbued with mag- 
netic force. That when we drink our stomachs ex- 
tract this life principle from the water and send it 
through our systems. That in breathing the air we 
have another connection with his supposed circuits. 
The only difference that he will admit is that which 
exists between the organs of our bodies and a possi- 
bility that there is less of this vital force in one of the 
elements than in the other. 

"From his written pleadings we are unable to de- 



216 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

terraine in what manner a man is connected with his 
third circuit, but as we have no idea that he will be 
able to impress your minds with that part of his 
theory we will not dwell on it. 

" He will tell you that when the earth was young, 
there was only one circuit in powerful action, at least 
so far as it was concerned. That it was then covered 
with water; that shortly afterward a second circuit 
entered the field, and that all the creatures that then 
sprang into life had a close connection with the first 
circuit and a very slight one with the second, and 
that there is testimony of this stamped upon their 
anatomies. That as the waters gradually subsided 
the sway of the second circuit gradually increased 
causing the creatures that sprang into life later to ex- 
hibit more plainly the impress of both circuits. That 
all this resulted from the fact that two circuits of 
magnetic force were approaching each other. 

" And then as a cap-stone to his whole theory he 
claims that when the two circuits effected an union, 
the third circuit entered the body of a man, and in 
that circumstance, he urges, lies the only difference 
between him and a beast. 

" Having heard the whole case, it will be obvious 
to you, that his theory is based on nothing except a 
chain of analogies not one of which is supported by 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 217 

anything except his ipse $ixit. For this reason we 
have appeared in the ease not to try the issues of law 
and fact, but to see that no errors occur in any of the 
proceedings. Trusting to your intelligence and the 
solid position each of you occupy in society we have 
no doubt you will render your verdict in accordance 
with the public will." Then pausing a moment he 
added, " vox populi vox dei." 

Then I addressed the court and jury and said : 

" We are laboring under some disadvantages in 
endeavoring to present this case. One of which re- 
sults from an apparent conflict between the documen- 
tary evidence* and the scientific testimony. The court 
will instruct you to consider both and we hope you 
will give the whole subject your earnest attention, 
and that you will find that no such conflict exists. 

There is another matter of still greater import- 
ance, and hence much more embarrassing to our case. 
It lies in the fact that the relationship existing be- 
tween the Creator and the creature is susceptible of 
demonstration, but unfortunately the witness who 
appeared, had no knowledge of the fact. 

We do not claim that the learned counsel for the 
defense has unfairly presented our theory, and yet a 
subject of so much importance cannot be stated in a 

* The Holy Bible. 



218 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

few brief sentences. Hence we ask you to compare 
his remarks with our pleadings and the record, and 
if he has unwittingly misconstrued us, ascribe to us 
only the theory set forth in our pleadings. 

In order that you may know how I came to be 
of counsel in this case, I will state that some years 
ago I undertook an examination of magnetic force. 
I may say that I thoroughly investigated the subject 
in the light of the ablest scientific works then to be 
obtained, and finally in maimer and form as the same 
appears in our pleadings, I came to the conclusion 
that He who created the forces of nature and estab- 
lished all their resultant phenomena is not a respecter 
of persons or things, that is to say, He shows no par- 
tiality to this or that, man or beast. Then turning 
to the documentary evidence I found it written that 
not a sparrow falls to the ground without His notice. 
And that He also hears the young ravens when they 
cry for food. 

Strengthened by this testimony I thought I would 
apply magnetic force to men and things with such 
impartiality as I might be able to exert. 

First making the application to the earth I found 
that two circuits of magnetic force enter its body. 
Coming to examine the scientific witnesses one of 
them testified that he had found a third circuit flow- 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 219 

ing from east to west.* Other witnesses slightly cor- 
roborated him. Pushing my investigations further 
I found the impress of the first two circuits stamped 
upon it, but the impress of the third circuit seemed 
to be wanting. However, I accepted the testimony 
of the witnesses, and constructed the theory set forth 
in chapter three of our pleadings. And now in cor- 
roboration of that theory we will call your attention 
to the documentary evidence, we read : 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

2. And the earth was without form and void ; and dark- 
ness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters. 

3. And God said, Let there be light ; and there was light. 

4. And God saw the light that it ivas good : and God di- 
vided the light from the darkness. 

5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he 
called Night. And the evening and the morning were the 
first day. 

If you will compare what took place in this first 
period with the theory advanced in chapter three of 
our pleadings, you will find no conflict whatever, not 
even in the minutest detail. 

The first two verses refer to the time when the 
solar nebula was about to become a separate system. 

* Andre Marie Ampere. 



220 TEE THREE CIRCUITS. 

The words " without form and void" mean that the 
forces had not yet formed any nucleus or solid matter. 
That the place which the earth was about to occupy, 
was empty of anything that can produce phenomena. 
You will notice that darkness was the condition of 
interstellar space, and that it was " the spirit of God" 
that moved upon the face of the waters (primordial 
matter), and the latter immediately began to aggre- 
gate at or near the places now occupied by the mem- 
bers of the solar system. At the command of its 
Creator, primordial matter began to flow toward the 
hitherto empty place, thus forming the nucleus of the 
earth. At the same time the disengaged gaseous 
matter surrounded the nucleus forming an atmos- 
phere, and of course luminous phenomena were the 
inevitable result followed by other phenomena. 

And God divided the liorht from the darkness. 
That is to say, interstellar space still remained dark 
just as it is now, the light being confined to the at- 
mosphere surrounding the earth's nucleus. 

We trust you will not be mistaken. It was the 
spirit of God moving upon the waters. Fire is not men- 
tioned, nor intense heat, but water, which is the reverse. 

The earth may not have been larger than an aste- 
roid at that time, but it was there, and this fact closes 
the first period. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 221 

The sun may not have been larger than the moon 
is now, and it may have been so enveloped in primor- 
dial matter that no relation existed between it and the 
earth, perhaps not even between it and Mercury. 

Evidently the next step in creation is the contin- 
ued growth of these bodies, and the consequent clari- 
fication of the spaces around each of them. How- 
ever, the documentary evidence describes only the 
earth. We read : 

6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst 
of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 

7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters 
which were under the firman ent from the waters which were 
above the firmament ; and it was so. 

8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the even- 
ing and the morning were the second day. 

Again, compare this with our pleadings, and we 
think you will agree that the firmament so estab- 
lished, included a space sufficiently cleared of primor- 
dial matter, to permit the moon, or at least the effects 
of it to be noticeable on the earth. If this be so, 
then the second period closes with the earth in binary 
relation with the moon, and hence three powerful 
circuits in the field. 

We are about to read the result of this, or rather 
the beginning of the result, for we ask you to particu- 



"222 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

larly notice that first results are not as great, or at 
least not so impressive as those which occur later in 
the same period, aud this you will find applies to all 
the periods. 

9. And G-od said. Let the waters under the heaven be 
gathered together unto one place, and let the dryland appear ; 
and it was so. 

10. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering 
together of the waters called he seas : and G-od saw that it 
was good. 

That is the history of the early part of the third 
period, and it is still water that is being divided ; 
moreover, it is always in the plural. Evidently the 
source of the inspiration was not contemplating water 
in mass as we contemplate it, but was regarding the 
individual atoms or molecules ichich compose it. 

You may carefully look over this evidence and 
you will not find a word or a hint, indicating that 
the earth had been hot and was cooling down. The 
idea that it ever was intensely heated is false. It has 
been derived from the fact that vibrations have 
always tended toward the centre of the earth causing 
intense heat in certain localities. And in times past 
and even at present, inward disturbances have and 
still are throwing portions of the earth's interior to 
its surface. From this and a superficial examination 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 223 

of the subject, certain persons who were not familiar 
with the documentary evidence were led to think 
that the w T hole earth was ouce a ball of fire. It was 
a very foolish conclusion, and we earnestly hope you 
will not believe it. 

We will now read what took place when the earthly 
lunar binary relationship reached the zenith of its 
power. 

11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the 
herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his 
kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and it was so. 

12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding 
seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed 
was in itself after his kind ; and God saw that it was good. 

13. And the evening and the morning were the third day. 

The moon is only 240,000 miles from the earth. 
A binary relation with it constituted three very pow- 
erful circuits, and they were life circuits, — living 
vegetation with seeds and fruit. You will also notice 
that the grass came first, the herb next, and later in 
the period the tree yielding fruit. Moreover, the 
source of this inspiration does not apply the con- 
temptuous pronoun it to these things, but exalts 
them with "his" using the male pronoun in its 
generic sense. 

What a wonderful transformation from a sandy, 



224 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

stony world to one with grass and fruits, and flowers, 
for while the latter are not mentioned they un- 
doubtedly preceded the fruit. 

We can form but little idea of the luxuriant vege- 
tation resulting from such close magnetic relation- 
ship. But if you will reflect on the density of the 
aqueous atmosphere surrounding both bodies at the 
time referred to, and the coal formations which took 
place thereafter, you will gain some knowledge of the 
power of the lunar-earthly circuits. 

Three days are gone, God's days. Do not forget 
that in every instance the evening is the beginning 
of the day. The fourth day is at hand. We read : 

14. And Grod said, Let there be lights in the firmament 
of heaven to divide the da}' from the night ; and let them be 
for signs, and for seasons, and for days and for years. 

15. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the 
heaven to give light upon the earth ; and it was so. 

16. And Grod made two great lights ; the greater light to 
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made 
the stars also. 

17. And Grod set them in the firmament of the heaven to 
give light upon the earth. 

18. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to 
divide the light from the darkness ; and God saw that it was 
good. 

19. And the evening and the morning were the fourth 
day. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 225 

The sun is 92,000,000 miles from the earth. Dur- 
ing the first day in which God's spirit moved upon 
the waters, the sun also became a solid body of mat- 
ter with an atmosphere surrounding it. " His taber- 
nacle was set in the heavens." During the second 
day the firmament surrounding him extended out- 
wardly and he secured a binary relation with Mer- 
cury. On the third day he embraced Venus. Now 
it is the earth's turn, and here comes another life 
messenger, one of God's servants ; on time. His cir- 
cuits are sweeping the universe ; the solar nebula is 
clarified by them. The moon takes a subordinate 
position; the stars appear. This is an evening piece. 
In the morning he will kiss the misty mountain tops 
of the earth ; drink the dew of its valleys; and then 
throwing showers of kisses back at them, he will de- 
scend and clasp the ocean in his arms, and all the 
waters of the earth ; and in his tender loving embrace 
the real work of the fifth day will begin. We read : 

20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly, 
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly 
above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 

21. And God created great whales and every living crea- 
ture that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, 
after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind ; and 
God saw that it was good. 

22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and 

15 



226 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multi- 
ply in the earth. 

23. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 

And God blessed them. Perhaps there were re- 
sponsibilities connected with his blessing such as we 
know nothing of. At all events it is the "fittest" of 
them that have survived till now, and the departure 
of these from the original stock may have been in 
some cases so wide that we cannot distinguish any 
family resemblance. 

Let not the greatness of these events distract your 
minds from a consideration of the time in which they 
occurred ; the half days begin to count. What a 
mighty day's work that was ! What will the sixth 
day bring ? We read : 

24. And Grod said, Let the earth bring forth the living 
creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast 
of the earth after his kind ; and it was so. 

25. And Grod made the beast of the earth after his kind, 
and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth 
upon the earth after his kind ; and God saw that it was good. 

It is now noon of the sixth day. To-night the 
physical forces of God will finish their work. There 
is now every creature, our minds can conceive except 
one. There are those that must live in the water, 
and those that must live on the land, and some of 



THE BEST E VIDENCE. 227 

them can live in either element. There are those 
that live on the land and fly in the air, and also those 
that live in the water and fly in the air. And yet 
there are none that can live in the interstellar spaces. 
No creature that can soar through infinite space and 
admire the works of his Creator. But there is an 
afternoon yet. Oh, what mighty events may take 
place in an afternoon ! Surely this afternoon we 
shall see a creature who may disregard heat and cold, 
light and darkness, and all other phenomenal condi- 
tions, and determine by personal investigation many 
of the questions which so puzzle our minds. We read : 

26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, 
after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the 
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the 
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing 
that creepeth upon the earth. 

27. So God created man in his own image, in the image 
of God created he him ; male and female created he them. 

28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them. Be 
fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue 
it ; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over 
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that 
moveth upon the earth. 

We are contemplating the close of the sixth day 
and the beginning of the seventh. Is creation finished ? 
It is not so stated. But man has been made ruler 



228 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

over all the earth, and the controller of his own des- 
tiny. This delegated supremacy makes him the rep- 
resentative of God, i.e., "in the image of his creator" 

And God blessed them just as he did the creatures 
of the fifth day and he also gave them the same in- 
junction. 

And now this new king who is in the image of his 
Sovereign will ascend the throne in the morning. 
Meanwhile let us examine his pedigree. 

In this connection, we will enumerate for your con- 
sideration the universal physical forces of God in 
their cosniological order. 

Attraction and Repulsion. 
a - Motion and Rest. 
< Heat and Cold. 
O Light and Darkness 
S Noise and Silence. 

% Life and Death. 

— 

Ease and Pain. 
The following is their dynamic arrangement. 

Attraction and Bepulsion. Motion and Best. 
f \ Heat and Cold. Light and Darkness. Xoise and Silence. 

j L ife and Death. Ease and Pain . 
/ Heat and Cold. Light and Darkness. Noise and Silence. 
Attraction and Repulsion. Motion and Best. 



V 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 229 

As you will observe life and death ; plant life, and 
ease and pain; animal life, are the effects of the third 
circuit. 

These are the forces that have been at work in 
God's direction, and the result of their six days' work 
is animal life. Such forces are not competent to 
make the creature we have in contemplation. Yet 
from them sprang the man who is to have dominion 
over the earth and himself in the morning. We 
read : 

1. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all 
the host of them. 

2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he 
had made ; and he rested on the seventh day from all his 
work which he had made. 

3. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it ; be- 
cause that on it he had rested from all his work which God 
created and made. 

Is creation finished ? It is not so stated. It is the 
heavens and the earth and all the host of them which 
are finished. The six days are gone, and the physical 
forces have ended their work. 

Let us contemplate the condition of the earth at 
the close of the sixth day. The shells and bones of 
the inhabitants of the fifth day lay in heaps. Nay 
more, in geological strata from the mountain tops to 



-C. tHE THREE CXRCUTT& 

the fire line. Every one of these shells had been a 
part of a living creature, not one of which died with- 
out God's notice. On the coast of Florida there are 
quarries wholly composed of shells cemented together 
by the petrified juices of the creatures that once oc- 
cupied them. 

Let a small boy write a line of figures and keep 
adding ciphers to the right of it until he has reached 
his three score and ten years, and then he may not 
have expressed the number of creatures that died be- 
fore the lowest form of intellectuality entered the 
earth. God knows the number of them. He blessed 
every one of them long before it lived. He knows 
what it cost to make a physical man. He also knows 
that many of them are not worth it. 

But we are at the beginning of the seventh day. 
And man is to take charge of affairs. Look out for 
wild work ! The six days' conflict of the opposing 
:::;7>::^' : ::-- :r.i: iziiie ::.i -\::^ -i-l \r::. .ri ::. 
are gone. !The tremendous battle of contending 
nienTi- f:::-r:> :- :r. hni. Tiir ::^-.z:~ -.:.:.'. if :■: 
::; : y ::r :h:t:-:t..;: -::t ; . ::_..- ::-iaj :: 
never. Do not be discouraged, God has blessed his 
servants and sanctified the day of battle. I: is to be 
a success. By Monday morning, perhaps to-night, 
there will be a creature able to surmount an inter- 



/ 
THE BEST EVIDENCE. 231 

stellar chasm, such as Herschel never dreamed of. 
Has God abandoned the world ? Not yet. Now he 
breathes into man's nostrils the breath of life. That 
is to say, he places the mental forces fully under his 
control. And now God rests. 

What are these forces? The following are the 
mental forces arranged in the order of their creative 
and destructive scientific sequences. 

Instinct or Reason. 

w Love or Hate. 
> 

eh Good or Evil. 
o 

° Faith or Despair. 

p The Holy Spirit or Evil possession. 
ft 
g Joy or Misery. 

Immortality or Death. 
The following is their dynamic arrangement. 

I Instinct or Reason. Love or Hate. 

/ ^ Good or Evil. Faith or Despair. Joy or Misery. 

\ The Holy Spirit, or Evil possession. Immortality or Death. 
Good or Evil. Faith or Despair. Joy or Misery. 
Instinct or Reason. Love or Hate. 



v__y 



You will observe first, that these forces are not di- 
rectly creative or destructive of physical life, yet 
when considered in their dynamic arrangement, the 
first series uniformly tend to lengthen it, while the 



232 TEE TEREE CIRCUITS. 

second series tend to shorten it. You will also 
notice that instinct or reason, the first expression, 
may be connected with either love or hate, or good 
or evil, the second expressions. And a very thought- 
ful consideration of the whole series leads to the con- 
clusion that there is a gracious connection all the 
way through this octave. Even the depths of des- 
pair and misery, may lead to an acceptance of the 
Holy Spirit, and the change so brought about will 
re-establish the preservative series. Yet as you can 
not fail to notice when studying the dynamic arrange- 
ment of the forces, the connection between the de- 
structive series and the preservative series becomes 
very faint after entering the third circuit. 

Moreover, we desire you to notice that the Holy 
Spirit and evil possession, immortality and death, 
are the alternate effects of the third circuit, and that 
these important possibilities are located at the whisper- 
ing place. 

The third circuit is the most occult force in nature, 
both in the physical and in the mental octave. Be- 
cause in the former it is the highest and lowest ex- 
pression of physical force; life and death. In the 
latter it is the highest and lowest expression of men- 
tal force. Immortality and death. 

The lower octave is the dividing line between mat- 



THE BEST evidence:. 233 

ter and mind. The middle octave is the dividing 
line between intellectuality and spirituality. These 
two octaves comprise all the sciences of earth, and the 
latter leads to and includes the first branch in the 
sciences of heaven. 

You may think it strange that we should classify 
the emotions and arrange them as a part of the sci- 
ence of dynamics, but why not ? Are they not the 
greatest power on earth ? Are they not also from the 
same source ? 

We want you to know that if anything at all is 
the effect of force then everything is. We want to 
impress your minds with the fact that our faculties 
spring directly from our physical organizations, and 
the latter from the forces of God which we are con- 
sidering, and therefore they must be the counterpart 
of the forces from which they came. 

We want you to cease thinking, I am a man, you 
are a worm, therefore, I possess that which you do 
not possess. We beg you to remember that God is 
not a respecter of persons. That in his mind an ad- 
vancing progressive race of oysters is of more value 
than a degenerating retrogressive race of men. We 
want you not only to understand, but to realize that 
the mental forces are not in your exclusive possession. 
Sea crabs get fiercely angry when tormented, and a 



234 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

worthless cur will love you so much that you will 
weep over his dead body. 

You must realize that the gentle sunshine and the 
dreadful earthquake are the handmaidens of God 
engaged in creative work, such as we are not yet able 
to comprehend. 

If you are ready to believe in the "survival of the 
fittest" and apply it to the lower octave, then carry 
it through the middle octave and on to the upper 
octave, and you will find your feet planted on the 
rock of everlasting truth. It is undoubtedly the fittest 
who will survive. 

Some of these thoughts may be new to you ; so 
much the more reason you should study them. God 
may never take the supremacy from the human race, 
but he is able to do it, and that too without perform- 
ing any greater miracle than we see every day. That 
he does not do it, is because the race, as a whole, still 
deserves the highest rank. Fair play yields no other 
reason. Whenever the forces of evil begin to domi- 
nate the earth, the covenant of supremacy on our 
part will be broken ; the doom of the race sealed. 
God's sentence and the execution thereof will go 
hand in hand, creation will still proceed without in- 
terruption. There may be wild work in the morning 
of the upper octave and yet the fairest of days ensue. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 235 

But the seventh day is here and man is king. Oh, 
there was wilder work this morning when the first 
note of the middle octave sounded than there had 
ever been on this earth. Think of men whose highest 
faculties were love and hate. Think of the sweet 
love of a mother and the fierce hatred of a savage. 
How often has the babe been torn from its mother's 
breast and dashed to death in her presence? Love and 
hate ! Who would have thought that the gentle in- 
fluence of the former would ever hold its own against 
the hellish power of the latter ? Yet out of that 
deadly conflict came the knowledge that love was 
always right and hate forever wrong. We do not 
care to dwell on these sequences; they are too 
plain to need it. 

Now before we close this branch of our subject, we 
want to call your special attention to the words, " the 
evening and the morning" as they appear in the docu- 
ments. You will observe that it is difficult to follow 
days which are described in this way. We seem as 
we read to drift into the idea that each day should 
begin in the morning and end that same evening. 
This is not the case. If you thoroughly examine the 
evidence and carefully study our pleadings, you will 
understand that the work of each day really began 
the preceding evening, and this is precisely what 



236 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

would be the order of action with a continuous pro- 
gressive movement under way. For instance, it is 
not likely in a constantly developing creation, that a 
single day or year could be selected when the moon 
lost its supremacy, and the sun began to rule over 
day and night. Neither could any single moment, 
day, or year, be selected when there was a fauna on 
earth possessed of life, and hence, subject to death, 
and yet no individual member of it capable of ex- 
periencing any higher sensation than ease and pain. 
Necessarily some of them would be more and some 
less advanced. 

Again, it is not likely that at any given time in 
the early part of the seventh day all men were pos- 
sessed of the faculty, love and hate and nothing 
higher. Take men as they are to-day, some are 
more advanced than others. Some have loving dis- 
positions and these recognize that good is good, and 
try to regulate their conduct in accordance with this 
conviction ; they are apt to soon have faith in God 
and the Holy Spirit communes with them. While 
there are men who hate and prefer to hate, these re- 
cognize evil and yet continue to do it. After awhile 
they despair and then misery and evil possession fills 
their souls, and mental death is awaiting them ; some 
of them recognize this fact, but blindly ascribe this 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 237 

same end to the whole race and with this comfortless 
fallacy appear to be satisfied. 

Again, studying the lower octave we find it to be a 
scientific fact that the solar nebula had been sepa- 
rated (not fully so, for that is not the case now), from 
the other nebulse in the same circuit prior to the 
morning of the first day. That separation was the 
work of the preceding evening, and it is a suggestion 
of the creator of nebulse. Almighty God. 

Therefore in cosmological order the evening of the 
first day was the commencement of the second. The 
spacious neighborhood of the earth began to be clari- 
fied by central aggregation. At the close of the 
second day the moon was in sight, but its beams met 
nothing but the wild sweep of a tempestuous ocean. 

The evening of the second day was the commence- 
ment of the third, the magnetic power of the moon 
began to gather the water into seas ; later the dry 
land appeared and at the close of the third day plant 
life was on the earth perhaps only grass but still liv- 
ing vegetation. 

The evening of the third day was the commence- 
ment of the fourth. There was already life on the 
earth ; plant life, trees, and fruit, things able to dis- 
tinguish the " signs/' i.e., heat from cold, day from 
night, the coming fall and returning spring. Mean- 



238 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

while the circuits of the sun were bridging the mighty 
chasm between it and the earth. The power of the 
moon was diminishing. By the close of the fourth 
day the sun and planets were in sight and the second 
order of sublunary affairs established. 

The evening of the fourth day was the commence- 
ment of the fifth ; vegetation was engaged in produc- 
ing food ; then a creature existed capable of distin- 
guishing ease from pain and therefore especially 
worthy of God's notice. This creature may have 
been almost a plant; it was of the water; more than 
likely it was not capable of moving from place to 
place ; possibly it drifted with the element in which 
it lived. But whatever may have been its estate, it 
is certain that it was the first scientific life effect 
of the approaching power of the sun. Later in the 
day the monsters of the ocean appeared and at the 
close of it all the waters of the earth teemed with life 
and the air was filled with aquatic fowls. And God 
blessed all of them from the least to the greatest. 

The evening of the fifth day was the commence- 
ment of the sixth. The ocean was shrinking, the 
area of land enlarging. Later in the day the bayous 
and shallow lagoons were drained ; the land was pro- 
ducing less wood and more fruit, perhaps not more 
abundantly but in greater variety. By noon the 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 239 

fructifying influence of the sun had peopled the earth 
with four-footed beasts and creeping things. At the 
close of the day men and women stood upon the earth 
and looked upward toward heaven and we believe 
toward their God. 

The evening of the sixth day was the commence- 
ment of the seventh. Men and women were on the 
earth admiring what had been done. Naming things, 
that is to say, constructing a language. And God 
continued strengthening their minds. Breathing 
into them the intellectuality, impliedly promised 
them, thus making them capable of having do- 
minion over the things which he had created. And 
in the morning of the seventh day men had all the 
mental forces at their command, and God commis- 
sioned them, and said to them : If you want to be 
nearer to me ? If you want to learn of infinite things 
and their relationship? If you desire immortality 
and free scope ? Then know that I exist and com- 
prehend both good and evil, love and hate, joy and 
misery, heaven and hell. And I am Lord over all. 
And I desire you to live in the enjoyment of my 
life-giving series by conquering death's destructive 
forces and trampling them uncle?' your feet. This you 
are able to do. — This you must do or I will cut you 
off from the glorious knowledge of my universe. 



240 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

Yet I know your feeble estate, and therefore I have 
left an umbilical cord attached to you. It is as 
strong as the freedom necessary in soul creation will 
permit. It is enough, and you will find it growing 
stronger and stronger as long as you regard my ad- 
monition. You have my blessing. 

Then men took charge and immediately began to 
construct their own theories, some of them very 
foolish ones. 

If the six days' work of creation seems a compli- 
cated subject when presented in connection with the 
physical forces of God, when shall we have sufficient 
intellect to set opposite to each of these forces its sub- 
ordinate phenomena, of the first order, and of the 
second order, and so on? From attraction and re- 
pulsion spring galvanism, molecular attraction, 
atomic repulsion, chemical affinity, life, and sexual 
relationship, and the mental forces follow. 

To contemplate a series of such forces is the work 
of an immortal soul, and that is the principal thing 
the whole series, both physical and mental, are en- 
gaged in creating at the present time. 

But the defendants claim that men were immortal 
ever since they were created, and that the specimen 
who was on the stand is one of these immortal souls by 
the power of God heretofore exerted. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 241 

Their attorney has not seen fit to offer their theory, 
but says he will rely on the weakness of ours. 

Gentlemen of the jury, our theory as compared 
with theirs, is a bulwark of truth. But it is not only 
our theory that is on trial, but theirs also. 

What is their theory? We will now set before 
you what the defendants are pleased to call the 
" forces of nature." 

Original Impulse. — An imaginary something that 
in past time shot the worlds into space in a right 
line. 
Attraction of Gravity. — A disposition the aforesaid 
worlds have to fall into each other on account of 
their weight. 
Centrifugal Force. — A tendency they have to do 

the opposite thing to that last mentioned. 
Light and Heat. — Derived from the sun either 
directly or indirectly. Created by combustion, 
or friction, or shrinkage in mass. 
Darkness. — Absence of light. 
Cold. — Absence of heat. 
Life. — Animated existence. In man immortality. 

In the beasts transient life. 
Death. — A transition in man from one state of ex- 
istence to another. In the beasts, annihilation, 
or oblivion. 

16 



242 TEE THREE CIRCUITS. 

This ramshackle theory the defendants expect you 
to sustain by your verdict- In accordance with their 
theory, immortality was created by the physical 
forces. 

If that is true we ask you in the name of reason, 
what was the need of the battle of the seventh day ? 
Why should God rest, while man had control of 
some of the most dangerous powers? Why should 
blood and tears enough have been shed to water the 
earth? Why should hate, evil, despair, misery, evil 
possession and death have existed? In such case 
there was no work for them to do except devils' 
work. 

If their theory were true, then the alternative men- 
tal forces would be a reproach to God. According 
to our theory, they are the crucible from which souls 
of pure gold flow, and the dross is returned to the 
earth from whence it came. 

Their theory means that God breathed the spirit 
of life into the nostrils of men on the sixth day in- 
stead of the seventh. It means also that he breathed 
the most excellent thing our minds can conceive into 
men filled with hate. It denies that God's spirit, the 
Holy Spirit is a sequence of faith. It ignores the fact 
that God is breathing his spirit into his servants on 
the field of battle. He is not resting, according to 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 243 

their theory, but has abandoned the world ; or that 
it came by chance, or that it was the creator of itself 
in some inexplicable manner. In fact it is a denial 
of God himself and a substitution of " original im- 
pulse" and many of the defendants not being able to 
maintain this conclusion in reason and logic have by 
the near cut placed themselves on a platform of 
general denial. 

We do not care to argue it further. There is not 
one of the physical or mental forces recognized by 
them, that can be made the sequence of another, with- 
out arranging them as we have arranged them. And 
when this is done, immortality goes to the head of the 
mental series, and immediately it becomes a sugges- 
tion of the upper octave — Almighty God. And when 
an individual recognizes this, he is no longer a de- 
fendant in this case, but a soldier of the cross fighting 
for his own immortality and the redemption of the 
world. 

There is another matter needs explanation ; you 
will remember that there was a fauna created on the 
fifth day, and as the fifth day began on the evening 
of the fourth, this was a very old fauna. The devel- 
opment of its individual members had been underway 
all through the thousands of years comprising the 
fifth day. By the afternoon of the sixth day the 



244 THE TECREE CJRCUHE 

most advanced race of them may have reached a state 
high enough for them to recognize love and 1 is 
good and evil. This race wouM be the masters of 
the old fauna just as mankind became the masters of 
the new ; they were probably moon worship e 
Their ancestors had seen the time when the moon out- 
ranked the sun : they may not have been pleased 
with the new order of things : they had sprung from 
the water and yet probably had become able to live 
on the land. This old master race were in the m: -: 
of the garden, that is to say they | jesease the highest 
civilization then on the earth, or at least the nearest 
approach to civilization. They were the rulers of the 
world and this excited the admiration of the new 
race. 

Now these old serpents, for so they have been de- 
nominated, were probably set Jed in iniquity. Such 
iniquity as their race had invented and improve 
during thousands of years. And vary - >n afta the 
advent of the new race they were found tampering 
with the sources of life and death. In other 
seduciDg mankind from the pa:.. I virtue and mor- 
ality. No doubt they tried to think that their ways 
and. the ways if their people were all right* they 
were audacious enough to say that no | an .:; :uld 
follow a violation of the commandments of their God 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 245 

and our God. Nay, more, they insisted that sin was 
a pleasant thing to indulge in and would be benefi- 
cial to the new race, and when the measure of their 
iniquity wns full, the sentence of the Lord God went 
forth, and the serpent race staggered under it and 
their degeneration and retrogression began. 

Is he a dirt eater ? If a lineal descendant of one of 
you jurymen should at some future time find him- 
self in the condition the serpent is now in, and could 
recognize the exalted position held by you, his ancestor, 
he would think himself humbled to the very dust. 

Did he walk erect? It is not so stated. How- 
ever, he is possessed of six anatomical points. No 
doubt when his sentence was pronounced, jealousy 
and hatred of the new and advancing race (for so it is 
stated) filled his whole being, and these faculties pre- 
dominating for a great length of time, changed the 
course of his physical and mental life from advance- 
ment to retrogression, and finally these accursed forces 
settled in his head, giving him a pair of fangs and a 
couple of sacks of poison to correspond. Such a 
result is in strict conformity with the latest ideas on 
evolution, and a survival of the fittest. With this 
difference, that it is an example of degeneration and 
a survival of the infamous. 

We have noticed this circumstance in early history, 



246 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

not because it falls strictly within our case, but be- 
cause an attempt has been made with it to discredit 
the documentary evidence on which we rely. 

There is another series of forces strictly within the 
case at bar. The organized forces. These, have in 
a certain sense, accomplished more good, and also 
more evil, than the individual forces. Their power 
lies in the average development of their component 
parts. Yet occasionally extreme ideas prevail, often 
for good, sometimes for evil. The following are the 
religions God has recognized in the order in which 
they have dominated the world. 

Moon Worship, Sabaism. 

S "\ Sun Worship, Fire Worship, Pantheism. 

) The Worship of God, Christianity. 
^ -*■' Sun Worship, Fire Worship, Pantheism. 

Moon Worship, Sabaism. 

This series comprises the parent stock of all reli- 
gious thought from the beginning to the present 
time. 

We would not be presumptuous in matters of this 
kind, yet we believe, there never has been a church 
organization under any of the above forms, which did 
not at some period of its existence contain members 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 247 

who looked beyond its forms and ceremonies up to 
the living Creator of the universe, and therefore re- 
ceived his blessing. We hesitate more to say, and 
yet we will say, that we believe that a compliance 
with the forms and ceremonies of such church, what- 
soever they may have been, were beneficial to its 
members so long as they knew no better way. 

The forces mentioned in this series have, of course, 
lapped backward and forward as the other forces have 
done. 

The serpent race were moon worshipers. The 
earliest offspring of mankind were also moon worship- 
ers. Cain "offered the fruits of the ground," em- 
blematic of the power of the moon, or rather the 
power it had had in olden times. Abel offered a 
living sacrifice emblematic of the power of the sun. 
The stronger current of inspiration was with the new 
dispensation. The older organization was more 
powerful in numbers. A religious conflict arose, the 
moon worshipers prevailed. Abel was slain. He 
was a martyr to the advance of religious thought. 
Finally the new dispensation was victorious. Then 
the devotees of the old faith expected to be annihi- 
lated. God said : Nay ! — He had long before that 
prescribed what should be the punishment for adher- 
ing to false religious ideas and their adjunct, sin. He 



248 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

had placed a mark upon the serpent race, and he now 
places a mark upon Cain. That is to say, retrogres- 
sion, and all that it implies began. The very counte- 
nances of the adherents of the lower faith became 
different from those of the higher faith. The mark 
was one that all might see ; and therefore Cain and 
the moon worshipers emigrated from the presence 
of those who were outstripping them in life's battles. 
They went east to the land of Xod. Literally no- 
body cared where. Yet there is no doubt that many 
of them afterward accepted the new religion. 

From this first religious war came the old adage, 
" They shall surely ask counsel at Abel."* That is 
to say, if you are in doubt on any subject of impor- 
tance ; if you have a disagreement with your neigh- 
bor ; in short, if you want knowledge of what is 
right and what is wrong, inquire of those who wor- 
ship God. Such an inquiry saved Cain and his 
people from destruction. It has also saved a rem- 
nant of the Indian race, and at the same time given 
them more than they deserve. The voice of God's 
people has always been the voice of a powerful and 
merciful umpirage. 

" They shall surely ask counsel at Abel." If the 
most excellent members of the Christian Church are 

* Second Samuel, 20-18. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 249 

not inspired, then they are deprived of that which 
God's people have had ever since the beginning of 
the world. If the Christian Church were at this 
time asked, What disposition shall be made of the 
liquor traffic? the answer would well up from the 
ministry of the smallest denomination and down from 
the church at Rome, and all Israel would re-echo the 
words, "Let it be forever outlawed." And they would 
now have the power to demand it had they not in 
times past been guilty of the intolerance condemned 
by God in the example of Cain and Abel. — Religion 
is an individual responsibility. Intolerance is high 
treason to God's government, and since his people 
were convicted of it, he has divided them. Nay, 
their own crime divided them ; therefore we see them 
standing at the polls distrusting each other, and all 
of them appalled at the work accomplished by the 
united cohorts of rum. Christians should stand side 
by side. What right has the man who is working in 
God's vineyard wiih a gang plow to find fault with 
the man who is using a hoe? how much less right to 
ask whether he intends to dine on white or black 
bread. He should be glad that he is in the vineyard, 
and exceedingly thankful that both of them are pro- 
vided with food. — God will know when the time 
comes in which his people will be able to govern the 



250 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

world, and at the same time abstain from persecuting 
others on account of their religious belief, and when 
it does come, they will be given the control. He has 
promised that his saints shall take the kingdom and 
possess it forever; not those who simply adhere to 
some particular form of worship, but His saints. 
The promises of God do not relate to some other 
world, but to this world. They are to be fulfilled 
here ; right here while the righteous and the wicked 
dwell together, and the latter are to have the full 
benefit of the good government the former will in- 
stitute. 

This cannot be the case so long as there is a trace 
of intolerance in the minds of his people. 

God no more intends that the righteous shall per- 
secute the wicked than he intends the reverse of it. 
He has prescribed the punishment for sin and for 
unbelief. He has delegated no authority to his 
church or to his people in that respect. If any of 
the members of his real church ever did lend assist- 
ance to the punishment of those who differed with 
them, they were apostates at the time and worthy of 
great condemnation. Some of them had the same 
stripes, torture and death at the stake meted to them. 
Whatever may be the opinion of others, we cannot 
think that high treason ever went unpunished. 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 251 

However, these wretched years are gone, and it 
seems to us that there is a spirit beginning to prevail 
in the minds of men, clearly indicating that the time 
is not very distant when the government will be in 
the hands of God's people. Indeed, we think it is 
now, to as full an extent as they are worthy of it. 

We are not mistaken as to the significance of this 
old adage. " They shall surely ask counsel at Abel." 
It was brought to light in one of the cities named by 
the old Canaanitish sun-worshipers. Doubtless 
named after the first martyr of their church. A 
woman made it the preface to an appeal for the life 
of a city. Women are very apt to remember church 
lore. The appeal was successful, but not until the 
head of the offending party was thrown over the 
wall. 

Balaam was a prophet of God ; his integrity was 
too strong to be shaken by any bribes or so-called 
presents that a king could offer. Yet he was a 
Canaanite, his name implies a priest of Baal, — a sun- 
worshiper; that he got angry and would have killed 
his ass if he had possessed a sword is simply an ex- 
hibition of human nature. He was long afterward 
slaughtered by the Jews who were at that time God's 
executioners. 

The religious struggle in Abraham's mind was 



252 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

whether to continue in sun-worship or break away 
from it. His early education and religious belief led 
him to offer his own son as a sacrifice. Baal wor- 
shipers considered this the supreme offering; it 
would have been more than this in Abraham's case, 
for Isaac was the prop of his declining years. His 
newer inspiration was not to do it; his faith con- 
sisted in the fact that he was ready to do either as 
God would direct. The new light, — the newer in- 
spiration prevailed, wherefore God promised to be his 
shield and his exceeding great reward. 

Moses had his conflict with fire-worship in the edge 
of the desert at the base of Mount Horeb. His 
mighty mind was able to pierce through the fire, the 
emblem of God, to God himself; his soul was happy ; 
he considered the ground where the conflict took place 
as holy ground. He took the shoes off his feet, and 
then and there God commissioned him and never 
afterward forsook him. 

These are some of faith's old conflicts; we have 
ours. Shall we anchor ourselves to the letter and to 
the emblems, or shall we rise to a comprehension of 
the power of God as manifested in his forces and in 
his works. 

Melchizedek, the man who fed Abraham and his 
people when they were returning from a successful 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 253 

military expedition, was king of Salem then a 
Canaanitish city. Abraham paid him one-tenth of 
the spoils of war as an acknowledgement of his kingly 
authority; Melchizedek was also a priest, as nearly 
all kings were in those days. No doubt the ceremo- 
nies of his ordination were performed by a priest of 
Baal ; yet he was also a priest of the most high God. 
The ancestry of GooVs real priesthood is without be- 
ginning and its lineage without end ; hence his priest- 
hood has not been confined within the limits of any 
particular forms or ceremonies. Abraham, who had 
been a sun-worshiper himself, acknowledged this 
fact by receiving his blessing.* 

This incident occurred several hundred years be- 
fore God sentenced the sun-worshiping Sodomitish 
Canaanites. One cannot read the passage without 
being impressed with the idea that it once contained 
a fuller account of what took place. And one can 
almost feel the reason why it is not there now. After 



* There is nothing to warrant the conclusion that King 
Melchizedek was anything more than a true believer, an 
honest hospitable priest and king. St. Paul's comments on 
the passage were intended to convince the Hebrews that 
God's real priests were not exclusively of the sons of Levi, 
nor " after the order of Aaron," but "after the power of 
an endless life." 



254 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

sun worship had led to the most infamous practices, 
and God had condemned it and sent forth the Jews 
as his executioners, it was hard for them to believe 
that their father, Abraham, had acknowledged a priest 
of Baal to be a priest of the most high God. Indeed, 
at several periods in their history it would have been 
their ruin had they so understood it. But that time 
is past both with them and us ; we are not slaves de- 
livered out of Egypt, and ready to run after any god, 
even a calf. The trouble with us is, that we are not 
willing to acknowledge the true God, or admit that 
he has any priesthood on the earth. 

One evening while passing through a forest in 
Africa, I came to a very shady place where the trees 
stood thick, and their branches extended so that they 
interlocked each other and almost shut out the light 
of day. It was a very lonesome, secluded place. 
Presently I saw a black man some little distance off, 
he was not aware of my presence. As I came nearer 
to him I observed him stoop over and gaze intently 
on something which appeared to be the bone of some 
small animal. I could see his lips move and there 
was a very earnest expression on his countenance; in 
a few minutes he laid himself down and pressed his 
face to the earth. I was almost ashamed to be se- 
cretly watching him, for I knew that he was engaged 



THE BEST E VIDENCE. 255 

in worship. Then he rose and I could see a glad- 
some look on his face as he passed into the forest. I 
said to myself, " That man has acknowledged his 
weakness and asked aid of the only God he knows ; I 
believe he has been benefited." And then and there 
my heart acknowledged him as a member of the 
church militant. 

What part did magnetic force bear in the creation 
of man ? The same part it bore in the creation of 
beasts. When we consider it in the light of its appa- 
rently infinite manifestations, we find no reason to 
deny that it is one of the powers of God existing in 
all material things. And further that He is above 
and beyond it, farther than it is above and beyond 
our comprehension. But in order to realize this, we 
must divest our minds of every prejudice. Nay 
more, we must pass our hearts through the crucible, 
time and again, until every vestige of partiality and 
superstition is smelted out of them, and then we shall 
be able to contemplate God's works as His works, 
whether the same be a force, a crystal, an insect, or a 
man. Yet long before this takes place, we may be 
able to view this subject as the Psalmist did. We 
read, 139th Psalm. 

14. I will praise thee ; for I am fearfully and wonderfully 
made ; marvelous are thy works ; and that my soul knowetb 
right well. 



256 TEE TEREE CIRCUITS. 

15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was 
made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of 
the earth. 

16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; 
and in thy book all my members were written, which in con- 
tinuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of 
them. 

Evidently the Psalmist saw by inspiration the 
limbs of a man extending by the force of the second 
circuit. He realized that the work had been done in 
a secret place. That both the place and the curious 
development that performed the feat were hidden 
from him and from mankind. Undoubtedly, the 
forces of God were endeavoring to explain to him a 
scientific fact. He so understood it. He knew that it 
was knowledge, great knowledge, which was being 
presented to his mind. Alas! He also knew that 
he was unable to comprehend it. He said : 

6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I 
cannot attain unto it. 

How could these things. take place in the "lowest 
parts of the earth f" For an answer to this you are 
referred to our pleadings, where you will find that the 
earth aggregated in a cool deliberate manner. No 
doubt this proceeded while men went through all the 
stages mentioned by the Psalmist. The Psalmist 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 257 

was looking backward to circumstances which oc- 
curred thousands of years before. He was capable 
of receiving the grandest thoughts that faith can in- 
spire, but a clear, cold, scientific fact was too much 
for him. He was a shepherd boy in his youth, and 
for this, and a still greater reason, he was not per- 
mitted to enjoy the dearest wish of his heart. To 
erect a temple to his God. 

We would have you read the whole Psalm. No 
matter if you have read it a hundred times. It is 
worthy of many more readings. He was contem- 
plating the ways of God toward men with a degree 
of fervor, perhaps never equalled. Why should he 
not at such a time be inspired with knowledge un- 
known to men ? 

" In continuance." From wheri to when ? From 
the time when man's members were yet only in the 
mind of his Creator, to the time when a lineal de- 
scendant of the man-like stock of the sixth period, 
should in the seventh possess the condition that 
would enable him on the subsequent morning to 
enjoy an universe of worlds. The man who wrote 
the Psalm is doubtless one of these, notwithstanding 
his great transgression. We would have you con- 
sider the age in which he lived, and the condition of 
his fellow-men ; his fellow-kings, if you please, and 

17 



258 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

then render your verdict whether he was inspired at 
the time he wrote the 139th Psalm. 

If the elucidation is not clear enough to suit you, 
extend to him the favor you would ask if you were 
endeavoring to explain a scientific thesis too difficult 
for your own comprehension, and infinitely above the 
minds of your readers. 

There is another question involved in this case. 
It is the central point of the main issue. Is the 
human race endowed with immortality? Or is there 
only an opportunity offered to its individual mem- 
bers to attain unto it. 

We placed a witness on the stand, or rather the 
defendants selected one for us. Had they brought in 
such a man as we wanted, he would have testified 
in your presence as to the time and place, at which, 
and in which, the spirit of God entered his heart. 
He would have explained to you the method of its 
operation more clearly than you will ever have mag- 
netic force explained to you. Had they brought in 
a stalwart specimen of their forces, he would have 
impressed your minds with the fact that the sweet- 
ness of the third circuit had never yet entered his 
mortal body. And a rigid cross-examination of him 
might have revealed the presence of death's forces. 
In short they were caught between the premise and 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 259 

conclusion of an old-fashioned syllogism, and there- 
fore, they brought in a fellow, such as in old times, 
when plain language prevailed, would have been 
called a fool. We disclaim the witness. 

However, you have seen him on the stand. His 
anatomy shows five points; his life counts for six. 
If you think yourselves justified in considering his 
reason superior to that of a beast, it makes seven ; 
that is the number the four-footed beasts have. 
There is not a suggestion of the upper octave on the 
person or in the character of the witness. 

In bringing such a witness, they mistake the forces 
that are arrayed against them. Their brief is too 
brief to meet and counteract the eternal forces and 
effects that are engaged in creating immortal souls. 
We ask you whether that man is fit to roam at large 
in the universe? Is he the perfected work of the 
forces we have enumerated ? Is he an immortal soul ? 
Will he be commissioned in the morning and sent 
back to earth to help redeem its people ? Or will he 
be found squat at the whispering place, suggesting to 
some poor troubled soul, " Now you are old enough 
to have some doubts." This is the nature of his effemi- 
nate life work. Will he be permitted to continue it 
indefinitely? Is his life so important that his evil 
influence cannot be got rid of? We know that God 



260 THE THREE CIRCUIT?. 

was able to make a man who would be mortal or im- 
mortal according to his desert; is it not safe to con- 
clude that that is what he did do? We ask you to 
look at the witness ; is he a fair representative of the 
sturdy old father who accumulated the wealth he 
now revels in ? Do vou not discover that retrogres- 
sion has alreadv bes;un? That he has started in the 
path of the old serpent race ? Will the result be the 
same or will God be a respecter of persons ? Shall 
the "survival of the fittest" prevail in the physical 
octave, and the fit and unfit both survive in the men- 
tal octave? 

It is written that the wages of sin is death ; that 
the gift of God is eternal life and that the gift is for 
them that love Him and keep His commandments. 
What will be the state of those who do not is a 
question in many minds. We think it is plainly an- 
swered in the documents. The answer is death; we 
think it means mental death ; we may be mistaken, 
we hope we are ; we most earnestly hope it does not 
mean oblivion. But suppose it does, what a dread- 
ful thought for a creature that has enjoyed life to 
contemplate? Life, which after all is nothing more 
than a realization and enjoyment of the good things 
of this earth. Think of these things when you are 
considering what your verdict shall be. Think of 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 261 

the enjoyment you have had here, and then think of 
the universe of worlds which you know exists ; think 
of the mighty events of the past as they are set forth 
in the documents and in the record ; think of the in- 
finite regions of space where similar events may now 
be transpiring. And then ask yourselves this ques- 
tion : Dare I come to the conclusion that I am an im- 
mortal soul, without more evidence of the fact than the 
testimony of witnesses f 

Gentlemen of the jury, we will now comment on 
the last and best evidence bearing on the case and then 
we will close." 

Here the judge seemed to be laboring under some 
misunderstanding, for he placed the jury in charge 
of the sheriff, and before I could make an objection 
they filed out to consider of their verdict. 

Then feeling greatly depressed, I bowed my head 
and thought. How foolish of me to rely on a single 
witness when I might have called others; I lamented 
the unfaithfulness of the sheriff; the apparent indif- 
ference of the court and jury. And, as I reflected on 
the great issues involved in the case and the labor I 
had bestowed upon it, there came to my mind the 
many, many times, I had imagined this the trial-day, 
and that I had made a masterly effort, and that the 
jury had given me their verdict. O, how different 



262 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

the reality! The trial finished. The case lost. Lost! 
Lost for the want of testimony ? with all the earth, air 
and sky teeming with evidence. ! that the great- 
ness of a great issue should be belittled by the 
weakness of its advocate. O ! the blindness of over 
confidence. 

Then the whole scene faded from sense and memory, 
and there was nothing in sight but a wilderness of 
black sage and sand. It seemed to me that I had 
travelled a long journey, and that I had not seen a 
road or pathway for many days. Then weary and 
lame, and disheartened, I thought of retracing my 
steps, but that seemed impossible ; night was coming 
on and I was lost. Just as I thought to give up, lay 
down and die, I saw a rock some distance ahead, 
and taking courage, I dragged myself to it, and 
climbed to the top. There was nothing in sight but 
the trackless wilderness. Xothing to indicate that 
any one had ever came that way. " This is a wilder- 
ness without end," I said. " Here my journey ends." 
Then I recalled the events of a long life, and bitterly 
repented my misspent days, and made vows for the 
future, and laid down under the protection of the 
rock and slept, — and dreamed. It seemed to me that 
I was again in the library, and that my wife stood 
looking over my shoulder at the confusion of things 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 263 

on the table, and that ray youngest son stood on the 
other side admiring the figure of the turtle. And I 
was happy, and I placed an arm around the boy as 
ray wife said : 

" What in the world have you been doing ?" And 
I answered, " I have been trying to write ray idea of 
the three circuits." 

"Is that you, and I, and Walter?" she asked. 

" Not by any means," I replied. " But as sure as 
fate, we three are representatives of their best earthly 
expression." 

"What have you been doing?" I said. "We 
have been measuring for a new carpet." 

" How many yards is it likely to take ?" I asked 
with some concern. 

" Forty-two," she replied. 

Then it seemed to me that the scene shifted, and 
that the court had been in session a full term, and 
was about to close " without day." That the journal 
entries were being signed by the judge, and the 
record made up. Presently, I heard one attorney 
speak to another in a low voice and ask, " What 
entry is to be made in the case of the Commonwealth 
against a philosopher f " Then it came to my mind 
that I had been disbarred for some misdoing in terra, 
and that a motion for a new trial had been consid- 



264 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

ered by the court and overruled, and that ray counsel 
had informed me that there was " no error " in any 
of the proceedings, and " no appeal." Then I re- 
alized the hopelessness of my condition. That I was 
ruined ; — irretrievably ruined. And it seemed to me 
that I prayed as I never had done before. • " O God 
is there any power in Heaven or on earth able to 
wipe out the infamous record of my guilt?" Just as 
my anguish became greater than I could bear, a 
young man rose and addressing the court said : 

" The defendant in this case is a friend of mine. I 
ask permission to examine the papers before his sen- 
tence is pronounced ;" O, how hopeless his effort 
seemed. O, how well I knew that able counsel had 
not left a line or word in any of the papers unchal- 
lenged. 

Then it appeared to me that I was asleep under 
the edge of a rock in the wilderness, and that a heavy 
hand was placed on my shoulder and that an authori- 
tative voice said : " Idle dreamer, awake ! Stand up 
like a man, and answer me as to the points of your ex- 
istence: I am the Lord your God: — All that yon are, 
or ever have been you owe to me ; I created you out 
of the dust of the ground ; and yet all the best years 
of your life have been spent in disregarding my pre- 
cepts, and in breaking my commandments; besides 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 265 

boasting of your infidelity to the church of my people, 
you have ridiculed my servants, and tried to seduce 
my ministers ; I have forgiven you ; now will you serve 
me the remainder of your days or shall I cut you off?" 

I could make no answer; I crouched into the very- 
cleft of the rock exclaiming, "Lord Jesus, help me 
or I will perish ?" 

Then a gentle hand was placed in mine and I dis- 
tinctly heard the words: u Fear not ! I will be with 
you always, even unto the end of the world." 

I arose and the desert had passed away and the 
sun shone on tree and flower, but the rock was still 
there and at its base flowed the mightiest river I had 
ever seen, and as I uncovered to enjoy the refreshing 
breeze that wafted from its surface I saw Flex 
standing by my side; grasping his hand I said, 
"What great river is this? It seems to be end- 
less." 

u It is the river of life" he replied, " that flows hard 
by the throne of God." 

Then we both knelt down and drank, — a soul sat- 
isfying draught. Then seating ourselves under the 
shade of a linden tree we talked about the old times 
in Kansas. Of the troubles we had there; the great 
hail storm, and the grasshopper raid ; of the buffalo 
and their extinction. The great plains and the gal- 



266 THE THREE CIRCUITS. 

lant struggle under way to reclaim them. As we 
talked the other side of the river seemed to draw 
nearer and nearer until we heard a voice saying: 
" Dear Lord, there are two servants of thine seated 
on the other bank, and one of them has patiently led 
the other all through his wayward life and now they 
are both ready to enter here ; shall we go and wel- 
come them." 

" Not yet," was the reply, " but you may give 
them our blessing." And we heard the words of it. 

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love 
of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be 
with you all : Amen." And we also responded, 
" Amen." 

After which we spent a few minutes in thinking 
of the deep things which had been revealed to us. 
Then I paid, " Flex, I am filled with joy and hope 
and confidence. It seems to me that I love the Lord 
wilh an all-conquering death-defying love : Can this 
be science ?" 

"It is the semitone of God's love" he answered, 
" the highest science in the universe." 

Then I sat down at my own table to write the 
eighth chapter of this work. I am not weary but 
refreshed. O how gladly I cross the line that di- 
vides the last earthly science, from the first heavenly 



THE BEST EVIDENCE. 267 

science: O for power to write the possibilities of 
an octave the first note of which is immortality. 

"Free grace and dying love." 

I heard the bells of a thousand towers proclaiming. 

''''Free grace and dying love." 

And as I cast my eyes toward heaven, and toward 
God, the universal upper octave sounded from Salem 
to the earth. 

' ' Free grace and dying love, 
ring those charming hells. ' ' 

" Lord Jesus ! I am ready ; commission me now to 
write the glories of thy everlasting kingdom." 

" You are not to write it /" 

" O, gracious Lord ! I have set my heart upon it ! " 

" You are not able to write it ; the honor of recon- 
ciling the sciences of earth, with the sciences of 
heaven, is reserved for my servants, priests, and minis- 
ters." 

" O, my master ! O, my Lord ! Am I not a ser- 
vant of thine?" 

" Thou art a servant of mine." 

" Dear Lord it is enough ; I serve. Let me take 
my place among them that watch and pray !" 



2d8 r:-:i 77:7.11 :::. 

Lead kindly Light ! amid the encircling gloom 

Lead thou me on ; 
The night is dark and I am far from home : 

Lead thou me on ; 
Keep thoa my feet; I do not ask to see 
The distant scene ; one step enough for nic. 

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou 

Shouldst lead me on ; 
I loved to choose and see my path ; but now 

Lead thou me on ; 
I loved the garish day and spite of fears 
Pride ruled my will, remember not past years 

" So long thy power hast blest me, sure it still 
D lead me on 
er moor and fen. o'er crag and torrent till 

The night is gone ; 
And with the morn those angel faces smile 
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.* 5 



